Programmable gene insertion in human cells with a laboratory-evolved CRISPR-associated transposase.

Science (New York, N.Y.)
Authors
Abstract

Programmable gene integration in human cells has the potential to enable mutation-agnostic treatments for loss-of-function genetic diseases and facilitate many applications in the life sciences. CRISPR-associated transposases (CASTs) catalyze RNA-guided DNA integration but thus far demonstrate minimal activity in human cells. Using phage-assisted continuous evolution (PACE), we generated CAST variants with >200-fold average improved integration activity. The evolved CAST system (evoCAST) achieves ~10 to 30% integration efficiencies of kilobase-size DNA cargoes in human cells across 14 tested genomic target sites, including safe harbor loci, sites used for immunotherapy, and genes implicated in loss-of-function diseases, with undetected indels and low levels of off-target integration. Collectively, our findings establish a platform for the laboratory evolution of CASTs and advance a versatile system for programmable gene integration in living systems.

Year of Publication
2025
Journal
Science (New York, N.Y.)
Volume
388
Issue
6748
Pages
eadt5199
Date Published
05/2025
ISSN
1095-9203
DOI
10.1126/science.adt5199
PubMed ID
40373119
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