What is prime editing used for?

Prime editors (PEs) can incorporate a wide range of nucleotide substitutions (including all twelve types) using the same protein configuration. This offers more flexibility compared to base editing, which requires different protein configurations for each type of nucleotide substitution. 

Furthermore, prime editors can also facilitate targeted insertions and deletions of small-to-medium-sized sequences with very low off-target effects and minimal unwanted modifications at the target site. In contrast to other CRISPR-Cas9-based methods, prime editing does not involve creating double-strand breaks (DSBs), reducing the risk of chromosomal abnormalities and cell toxicity associated with DSBs. This makes prime editing a safer option for precise gene editing.