Gene editing is the biggest technical advance in bioscience since the discovery of “recombinant DNA” technology — artificially mixing genetic material — in 1973. That launched the era of genetic engineering and led to the commercialisation of genetically modified (GM) crops in the 1990s. Now gene editing (GE) is for the first time giving researchers a fast, reliable way to make precise changes in specific genes. But its use in farming is in the balance after a European ruling last year equated it with heavily regulated GM.
自1973年發現了人工混合遺傳物質的“重組DNA”(recombinant DNA)技術以來，基因編輯是生物科學界最大的技術進步。重組DNA開啟了遺傳工程時代，并帶來了1990年代轉基因作物的商業化。如今，基因編輯技術讓研究者們頭一次可以迅速可靠地對特定基因作出準確改變。但繼去年一項歐盟裁決將它等同于被嚴格監管的轉基因技術后，基因編輯在農業上的應用如今懸而未決。
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