A lack of broadly applicable methods to precisely control therapeutic gene expression is a key challenge for gene therapies. We present a technology that offers a photoactivatable RNA base editor for tunable and reversible regulation of gene expression, with implications for improving the safety and efficacy of gene therapy.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals
Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription
27,99 € / 30 days
cancel any time
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
209,00 € per year
only 17,42 € per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
Booth, B. J. et al. RNA editing: expanding the potential of RNA therapeutics. Mol. Ther. 31, 1533–1549 (2023). A review article that summarizes the emerging field of therapeutic RNA editing and discusses key challenges in clinical development.
Teixeira, A. P. & Fussenegger, M. Synthetic gene circuits for regulation of next-generation cell-based therapeutics. Adv. Sci. 11, 1–24 (2024). A review article that presents examples of engineered genetic circuits applied to cell-based therapeutics.
Song, J., Zhuang, Y. & Yi, C. Programmable RNA base editing via targeted modifications. Nat. Chem. Biol. 20, 277–290 (2024). A review article that summarizes some emerging RNA editors and discusses their limitations, opportunities and future directions.
Yu, J. et al. Programmable RNA base editing with photoactivatable CRISPR-Cas13. Nat. Commun. 15, 1–14 (2024). This paper reports a light-inducible RNA base editor that employs a photoactivatable split dCas13b in conjugation with intact ADAR2dd variant.
Stroppel, A. S., Lappalainen, R. & Stafforst, T. Controlling site-directed RNA editing by chemically induced dimerization. Chemistry 27, 12300–12304 (2021). This paper reports a chemically inducible RNA base editor named the gibberellic acid (GA3)-induced SNAP-ADAR system.
Anadón, C. et al. Gene amplification-associated overexpression of the RNA editing enzyme ADAR1 enhances human lung tumorigenesis. Oncogene 35, 4407–4413 (2016). This paper reports the carcinogenic risk of overexpressing ADAR proteins.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This is a summary of: Li, H. et al. Engineering a photoactivatable A-to-I RNA base editor for gene therapy in vivo. Nat. Biotechnol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-025-02610-2 (2025).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
A light-inducible RNA base editor for precise gene expression. Nat Biotechnol (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-025-02621-z
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-025-02621-z
