Gene-editing is Science mags breakthrough of 2015

A gene-editing technique known as CRISPR was named Thursday by the influential US journal Science as 2015's breakthrough of the year, due to its potential to revolutionize health and medicine.

The method has stirred controversy, particularly after Chinese researchers earlier this year announced they had deliberately edited the DNA of nonviable human embryos from a fertility clinic.

Concerns over such research—and the prospect of altering humans to promote certain, desirable traits—recently prompted global scientists to urge researchers to steer clear of interfering with embryos destined for pregnancy, citing the risks of introducing permanent changes into the population.

But many are excited about the "superior ability of CRISPR to deliver a gene to the right spot compared to its genome editing competitors -– as well as the technique's low cost and ease of use," said the journal Science.

"Clinical researchers are already applying it to create tissue-based treatments for cancer and other diseases," wrote managing news editor John Travis. "CRISPR may also revive the moribund concept of transplanting animal organs into people."

Thousands of labs, high school students and scientists have already begun exploiting the three-year old technique, he said. "It's only slightly hyperbolic to say that if scientists can dream of a genetic manipulation, CRISPR can now make it happen," said Travis.