If the genome-editing powerhouse CRISPR were a dog, it would be the kind you can train to retrieve everything from Frisbees to slippers to a cold beer.
In research reported on Thursday, scientists trained their puppy to be so discriminating it can tell Zika’s genetic material from dengue’s, the DNA in one kind of antibiotic-resistant “superbug” from that in another, and DNA in cancer cells from DNA in healthy cells — even when that DNA is present in quantities equal to a couple of pinches of salt in Lake Superior.
