Critical review on engineering deaminases for site-directed RNA editing

The game-changing role of CRISPR/Cas for genome editing draw interest to programmable RNA-guided tools in general. Currently, we see a wave of papers pioneering the CRISPR/Cas system for RNA targeting, and applying them for site-directed RNA editing. Here, we exemplarily compare three recent RNA editing strategies that rely on three distinct RNA targeting mechanisms. We conclude that the CRISPR/Cas system seems not generally superior to other RNA targeting strategies in solving the most pressing problem in the RNA editing field, which is to obtain high efficiency in combination with high specificity. However, once achieved, RNA editing promises to complement or even outcompete DNA editing approaches in therapy, and also in some fields of basic research.