A Therapeutic Genome Editing Primer for Cardiologists

Genome editing, or genome engineering is a type of genetic engineering in which DNA is inserted, deleted or replaced in the genome of a living organism using engineered nucleases, or molecular scissors. Genome editing is being rapidly adopted into all fields of biomedical research, including the cardiovascular field, where it has facilitated a greater understanding of lipid metabolism, electrophysiology, cardiomyopathies, and other cardiovascular disorders, has helped to create a wider variety of cellular and animal models, and has opened the door to a new class of therapies. In this review, we discuss the applications of in vivo genome-editing therapies for cardiovascular disorder.