Crisper names fall after study finds 'large deletions' in DNA breaks

Shares of Crispr Therapeutics (CRSP), Editas Medicine (EDIT) and Intellia Therapeutics (NTLA) are moving lower after Nature Biotechnology published a study titled, "Repair of double-strand breaks induced by CRISPR-Cas9 leads to large deletions and complex rearrangements." The study explains, "Using long-read sequencing and long-range PCR genotyping, we show that DNA breaks introduced by single-guide RNA/Cas9 frequently resolved into deletions extending over many kilobases. Furthermore, lesions distal to the cut site and crossover events were identified. The observed genomic damage in mitotically active cells caused by CRISPR-Cas9 editing may have pathogenic consequences." Allan Bradley of England's Wellcome Sanger Center, who led the study, said, according to STAT, that the DNA chaos that Crisper brings has been "seriously underestimated." He believes the study "should be a wake-up call." In morning trading, Crispr Therapeutics is down 6.5% to $61.45, Editas is down 5% to $35.99 and Intellia is down 7% to $30.22. Reference Link