Gene Editing's Sharp Edge: Understanding Zinc Finger Nucleases (ZFN), Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nucleases (TALEN) and Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)

Abstract

At present, the main gene editing tools encompass TREN, Zinc Finger Nucleases (ZFN), clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), and Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nucleases (TALEN). In this study, we introduce an overview of the three gene editing methodologies and discuss their current clinical applications. In addition, we suggest some trends and future applications within the field of gene editing. ZFNs represent one of the pioneering technologies, demonstrating significant efficacy in mitigating a multitude of genetic diseases and finding applications in agriculture. Yet, this technology contains intricate processes and produces substantial costs when implemented. TALENs have already been employed across various domains. In the medical field, they have been successfully applied in the treatment of leukemia in infants. However, TALENs are being replaced by CRISPR due to the superior efficiency of CRISPR. CRISPR, consisting of six components, exhibits considerable promise in the medical realm, particularly in the context of treating diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). In the realm of genetic engineering, it can collaborate with B cells to rectify specific genes within the human genome, which have been tested in experiments. In the future, it can be used in many fields, including agriculture and nucleic acid testing.