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Precision gene editing techniques such as CRISPR have revolutionised biomedical research over the past few years. Scientists are now able to add, remove or alter specific genes – or even specific ‘letters’ of the genetic code – in ever more sophisticated ways in order to understand how genes work in healthy cells or organisms and what happens when they go wrong in disease. Two of the greatest challenges in the field are accuracy and efficiency, ensuring that only the right changes are made and that as many cells as possible are modified. These images of zebrafish embryos reveal the cells that have been altered using a new, highly specific gene editing tool, enabling researchers to follow distinct cell types during development. It's not just zebrafish – the new technique also works in pig and human cells, suggesting it could be used much more widely for genetic engineering and gene therapy in the future.

Written by Kat Arney

Kat Arney

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Dr Kat Arney is an award-winning science writer, broadcaster and public speaker, and is the founder and Creative Director of First Create The Media.

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• Image adapted from work by Wesley A Wierson, Jordan M Welker and Maira P Almeida, and colleagues
• Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Published in eLife, May 2020