Genome editing technologies have experienced rapid advancement in recent years, revolutionizing the fields of human gene therapy, applied biotechnologies and basic research. Viral-mediated gene transfer, CRISPR-Cas tools and new in-vivo delivery methods have made precise gene editing more accessible, efficient, and cost-effective, significantly accelerating our understanding of genetic and non-genetic mechanisms underlying human disease. Furthermore, these innovative tools have revolutionized the way researchers approach cancer treatment by exploiting the natural immune response against tumors or endowing human cells with novel functions.

In this Research Topic, we will focus on recently developed genome editing strategies applied to cancer modeling, diagnosis, stratification, and treatment - in particular those exploiting the immune system. Thanks to the possibility to engineer immune cells with increasing degrees of freedom and with limited undesired effects, we envision new avenues for personalized cancer treatment, bringing hope to patients with limited therapeutic options.

• Novel strategies to improve adoptive cell therapies for cancer immunotherapy beyond basic re-targeting of immune effectors towards specific antigens (eg. CAR-T cells).
• Strategies that exploit genome modification of novel immune subsets, either adaptive or innate, and new delivery methods (eg. macrophages, NKT cells).
• Synthetic biology approaches to reduce off-tumor toxicity and improve the tolerability of cancer therapies, including chemo-sparing or alternative strategies.
• Applications of editing novel tools beyond designer nucleases (eg. CRISPR-base editing, prime editing, RNA editing, transposases).
• In vivo delivery methods for adoptive immunotherapy (eg. VLPs or LNPs immune cell re-targeting).
• Novel cancer models made possible by genome engineering tools (in vitro/in vivo).
• Approaches to manipulate or reprogram the tumor micro-environment to promote anti-cancer immunity.
• Functional genomic/transcriptional screens made possible by novel editing tools (eg. base editing screens) exploring cancer biology.

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Frontiers in Genome Editing

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