Control of gene editing by manipulation of DNA repair mechanisms

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are produced intentionally by RNA-guided nucleases to achieve genome editing through DSB repair. These breaks are repaired by one of two main repair pathways, classic non-homologous end joining (c-NHEJ) and homology-directed repair (HDR), the latter being restricted to the S/G2 phases of the cell cycle and notably less frequent. Precise genome editing applications rely on HDR, with the abundant c-NHEJ formed mutations presenting a barrier to achieving high rates of precise sequence modifications. Here, we give an overview of HDR- and c-NHEJ-mediated DSB repair in gene editing and summarize the current efforts to promote HDR over c-NHEJ.