Discovery and engineering of avian R2 retrotransposons for all-RNA-mediated targeted DNA integration in human cells.

Engineered avian R2 retrotransposons enable up to 60% site-specific gene integration in human primary cells.

• Why it matters: This advances genome editing by expanding the toolkit for precise, RNA-mediated DNA insertion, addressing limitations of existing methods.
• What they did: Researchers analyzed 1,139 avian genomes, identified 159 R2 retrotransposons, and engineered variants to enhance their integration efficiency.
• The result: The work broadens the avian R2 resource and offers new tools for targeted genome editing, potentially improving gene therapy and functional genomics.