Precision Oncology in the Era of Crispr-Cas9 Technology

Precision Medicine has been directly linked to advances in molecular biology techniques mainly those pertaining to DNA sequencing. Oncology has benefited from these technologies to advance in early diagnosis and stratification of patients for personalized treatment. Unfortunately, the lack of drugs that target specific genetic and molecular alterations is still a challenge to overcome by existing technologies. Gene editing, specifically Crispr-Cas9, had been emerging as a golden tool to fill the gaps not only in correcting the defect but by expanding knowledge in tumor suppression, metastasis, and mosaicism using mouse models.

This collection will focus on the use of this technology in preclinical settings with a focus on precision medicine in oncology. The aim is to provide novel evidence and summarize existing data of the reliable information that could be extracted from experiments using this technique on one hand, and the success of the implementation of gene editing in improving health outcomes on the other.

We will consider Original Research and Review papers covering the following topics:

1. Genetic and epigenetic modifiers of the oncogenic driver mutations using Human Genome-wide CRISPR Knockout Libraries in vitro and in vivo.
2. Identification of novel genes involved in tumor suppression using Crispr-Cas9 mouse models.
3. Generation of mouse models using Genome-wide CRISPR technologies to repurpose existing drugs and small molecules.
4. Implementation of genetic editing tools in clinical oncology.
5. Off-target editing: methods of screening and detection, and safety considerations in clinical settings.

Keywords: Precision Oncology, Crispr, Cas9, Crispr-Cas9, Gene editing

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.