Gene-edited dogs created from cloned skin cells for the first time

New gene-editing approach could be used to eliminate disease-causing mutations from pedigree dog breeds or even from clones of individual dogs

By Michael Le Page

Two beagle dogs have been born in South Korea from cloned skin cells altered by CRISPR gene editing. CRISPR-edited dogs have previously been created by altering fertilised eggs, but this is the first time they have been created by cloning.

Many pure-bred pedigree dogs have disease-causing mutations. Gene editing could be used to eliminate these without affecting other traits. So, for this purpose, the cloning approach has advantages over the editing-eggs approach, says Okjae Koo at biotech company ToolGen.”[It] is more reliable for generating various pure-bred …