Performing this feat in the human genome will require the modification of 4438 Amber codons. They have shown that gene editors that do not cause double- or single-strand DNA breaks can generate a number of edits sufficient to theoretically achieve this genome recoding and pave the way towards making pan-virus resistant human cells. This could have commercial application towards cell-based production of monoclonal antibodies, recombinant protein therapeutics, and synthetic meat production.

Researchers have overcome the toxicity limitation that prevented large-scale genome editing in human iPSCs and have expanded the editing boundary by three orders of magnitude. The continued development of multiplex delivery along with non-toxic, high-efficiency DNA editors without DSBs or SSBs is paramount to the success of genome-wide recoding efforts to probe the inner workings of life, ultimately leading to the radical redesign of nature and ourselves.