Nature Methods’ choice for Method of the Year 2011 is genome editing with engineered nucleases. TAL effector nucleases (TALENs) technology, developed in part by College of Biological Sciences professor Dan Voytas, makes precise DNA sequence changes possible, and has applications in genetic research for plants and humans.
“TALENs and engineered meganucleases are already commercially available. Which technology will dominate is not yet clear: there are still many unknowns, in particular about TALEN function as discussed in several of the pieces in this issue. But the price at which researchers in regular research labs can obtain good tools is likely to play a role.” ~Nature Methods
TAL effector nucleases technology formed the basis of a startup, Cellectis Plant Sciences, which has already begun manufacturing and selling TALENs.
See Nature Methods’ special collection of articles and a related video to learn more.
January 11, 2012
Practice, Technology commercialization