Skip to main content
editing

editing

2 4.7
The act of making exact changes to an animal's or plant's genes to change traits
  • noun
  • /ˈɛdɪtɪŋ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : edición genética
  • Using CRISPR technology, scientists demonstrated successful editing of genes in mice to study specific inherited traits.
  • gene editing

What's possible and how can we help this gene editing future go right?

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • CRISPR/Cas9 offers tantalizing potential for more efficient, effective, and affordable gene editing.

    Academic text (2017)
  • Previous methods for gene editing were cumbersome, inexact, expensive, or all three.

    Academic text (2017)
  • The recent focus on gene editing is not without cause.

    Academic text (2017)
  • What's possible and how can we help this gene editing future go right?

  • While scientists are excited about the potential of this new gene editing technique for the treatment of human disease, they are also cautious.

    Academic text (2015)
  • The scientists were not trying to invent a gene editing tool.

    Academic text (2015)
  • Explore the groundbreaking gene editing tool known as CRISPR with this video.

  • The CRISPR/Cas9 protocol has the potential to transform how researchers and, eventually, clinicians undertake gene editing.

    Academic text (2017)
  • Researchers are developing new techniques for editing genes to enhance crop resilience against climate change.

  • Gene editing has opened possibilities for treating genetic disorders by directly altering DNA sequences.

Synonyms

alteration
vsediting
102 3.3

A change made to something

is limited to precise deliberate gene changes not broad or unspecified change
genetic engineering
vsediting
  • Specialized
27 4.1

Changing the genes of plants or animals to give them new traits

focuses on precise targeted changes to specific genes using modern tools

Compounds

copy editing
  • Specialized
2 3.6

A process of checking and correcting written text to make it clear and accurate before publication

film editing
  • Specialized
1 3.2

Choosing and joining scenes to make a complete movie

How Targeted

editing
  • Specialized
2 4.7
genetic engineering
  • Specialized
27 4.1
modification
137 3.9
alteration
102 3.3

Surface Forms

editing singular
editings plural

Morphology

editing = edit (semi-transparent) = edit + ing

Morphologically straightforward (edit + -ing), but the genetic sense applies the general idea of 'making changes' to a specialized technical domain.

Etymology

Editing here uses the same idea as text editing: the word edit comes from Latin edere 'to put out', and it came to mean 'to correct and prepare'. So, gene editing is like fixing a sentence: scientists make careful, planned changes to DNA to correct or improve it.