Chu, V. T., et. al. Nature Biotechnology (2015) 33:543-548. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25803306
Homology-directed repair (HDR) allows for insertion of precise sequences into specific locations. This is desirable when studying the effects of a specific mutation; however it has been difficult to achieve high efficiency of when compared to the non-specific error prone Non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) repair mechanism. Chu et al. have developed a way to increase HDR editing efficiency by inhibiting the NHEJ pathway through gene silencing. This technique increased the efficiency of HDR gene editing by approximately eight fold while essentially eliminating NHEJ.
