研究人员使用单分子成像来比较基因组编辑工具CRISPR-Cas9和TALEN。他们的实验表明，TALEN在基因组中被称为异染色质的部分中的效率是CRISPR-Cas9的5倍。脆性X综合征、镰状细胞贫血、β地中海贫血等疾病都是异染色质遗传缺陷所致。

Genome-editing tool TALEN outperforms CRISPR-Cas9 in tightly packed DNA

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/01/210127085235.htm

1. Surbhi Jain, Saurabh Shukla, Che Yang, Meng Zhang, Zia Fatma, Manasi Lingamaneni, Shireen Abesteh, Stephan Thomas Lane, Xiong Xiong, Yuchuan Wang, Charles M. Schroeder, Paul R. Selvin, Huimin Zhao. TALEN outperforms Cas9 in editing heterochromatin target sites. Nature Communications, 2021; 12 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-20672-5