If CRISPR allows to target specific genes, and cancer occurs when cell’s DNA changes to multiply uncontrollably and refuse the immune system’s orders to die, why can’t we just use CRISPR to solve most of the cancers?

Question

I guess there could be many genes that affect the “grow uncontrollably” part or the “refuse to die” part, but can’t we just target all of them?

In: Biology

Answer 1

genetic engineering on grown humans is very inefficient, at best we can hit 1-2% of target cells, or something like that. For some diseases and indications, that is enough to make a difference. For a cancer treatment to work though, we would need to be able to reliably hit every single one.