What are the differences between base editing and prime editing?
Posted March 21, 2024
Basis of differentiation |
Base editing |
Prime editing |
Definition |
Base editing is a form of genome editing that allows for precise alterations to the DNA sequence at targeted locations |
Prime editing is a gene editing technique designed to make precise alterations to the DNA sequence by introducing targeted small deletions, insertions and substitutions |
Capeabilities |
Is able to make 4 kinds of DNA substitutions |
Is able to make all 12 types of DNA substitutions, large insertions (up to 200 bases), and deletions (more then 5000 bases) |
Components |
Cas9 protein + deaminase enzyme |
Cas9 protein fused to engineered reverse transcriptase |
Mechanism |
Directly converts one base to another |
Uses a prime editing complex for precise edits |
Template DNA |
No template required |
Requires a prime editing guide RNA (pegRNA) and a reverse transcriptase |