A research achievement by Huazhong Agricultural University's animal genetics and breeding team titled "EXPERT expands prime editing efficiency and range of large fragment edits" was recently published in Nature Communications.

The team has reported the development of the extended prime editor system (EXPERT), which uses an extended pegRNA (ext-pegRNA) with modified 3' extension and an additional sgRNA (ups-sgRNA) targeting the upstream region of the ext-pegRNA. This significantly broadens the range of PE editing, allowing for precise and efficient editing of large fragments in multiple species and providing new technologies and tools for areas such as biological breeding and human disease treatment.

The technology principle schematic diagram of EXPERT. [Photo/news.hzau.edu.cn]

EXPERT has three main advantages over the traditional Prime Editing (PE) system.

Firstly, it has a broader editing range. EXPERT can edit both upstream and downstream regions of the pegRNA nick simultaneously, enabling efficient and precise editing of fragments over 100bp and expanding the traditional PE editing range.

Secondly, it has higher editing efficiency. EXPERT is up to 122 times more efficient in editing long fragments (insertions, deletions, replacements) than the PE2 system, while maintaining a lower rate of unintended indels.

Thirdly, it exhibits higher editing efficiency in animals such as pigs. The traditional PE system has low activity in pigs, while EXPERT shows high editing efficiency in pigs, mice, and humans, demonstrating excellent cross-species gene editing capabilities and providing new technologies and tools for biological breeding and human disease treatment.