Doctors to use gene-editing tool to combat cancer

Doctors at the University of Pennsylvania will soon utilize the gene-editing tool CRISPR to try to combat cancer, per the MIT Tech Review.

Why it matters: The trial combines gene-editing and immunotherapy, two promising areas of medical research. There is a lot of anticipation about human trials involving CRISPR but there have been delays.

The details: The study will reportedly involve 18 patients with multiple myeloma, sarcoma, and melanoma cancers. The researchers plan to modify the patient's immune cells to make them better at finding and attacking the cancer. By modifying the cells outside of the body, and then infusing them back into the patient's blood, the researchers hope to avoid some of CRISPR's potential side-effects. It is still unclear when the trial will start.