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Record W4408184346 · doi:10.26685/urncst.680

Zinc Finger Nucleases (ZFNs) and Gene Therapy Applications

2025· article· en· W4408184346 on OpenAlexaff
Maya Cheit, Rahaf Zeidan

Bibliographic record

VenueUndergraduate Research in Natural and Clinical Science and Technology (URNCST) Journal · 2025
Typearticle
Languageen
FieldBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
TopicCRISPR and Genetic Engineering
Canadian institutionsWestern University
Fundersnot available
KeywordsZinc finger nucleaseGenome editingBiologyGeneDNAComputational biologyNon-homologous end joiningGeneticsNucleaseDNA repairGene targetingZinc fingerGenome

Abstract

fetched live from OpenAlex

Introduction and Definition: Zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs) are a group of artificial restriction enzymes which are crucial for various processes in gene editing. They can target diseases based on gene therapy approaches and can be applied to a variety of eukaryotic cells through the precise introduction of double-strand breaks at specific genomic locations. Zinc Fingers were discovered in 1985 with ZFNs being discovered shortly after that in 1996. Body: ZFNs are engineered by fusing DNA-binding domains with the nuclease domain of a Fokl restriction enzyme. This results in custom-designed enzymes capable of binding to the target DNA sequence and inducing a double-strand break at the desired site. This binding is possible due to the high degree of specificity to recognize specific DNA sequences within the genome associated with disease-causing mutations. The DNA repair mechanisms, including both non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) and homology-directed repair (HDR), are triggered in response to double-strand breaks induced by ZFNs at specific genomic locations inside the cell. Cells possess innate mechanisms to mend such breaks. In the case of (NHEJ), the broken DNA ends are often rejoined, resulting in small insertions or deletions (indels) at the break site, potentially disrupting the function of the targeted gene. Alternatively, (HDR) can be employed, utilising an external DNA template to accurately introduce desired genetic modifications. ZFNs can be delivered to target cells using various methods and depends on factors such as the target tissue, specific diseases being targeted, and safety considerations. Viral vectors such as adeno-associated viruses or lentiviruses are used to deliver ZFNs into target cells. Lipid nanoparticles are synthetic encapsulates that allow repeat administration and transient delivery of ZFNs. Direct delivery involves physically introducing ZFNs which can allow a high degree of precision.

Fetched live from OpenAlex and de-inverted. Abstracts are not stored in this database: the inverted indexes are 8.6 GB of the frame’s 9.3 GB of text, and the host has 13 GB free.

How this classification was reachedexpand

Full frame machine prediction

Teacher imitation

Not calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.

metaresearch head score (Codex)0.001
metaresearch head score (Gemma)0.001
Version: metacan-v3-hybrid-931329e0061cValidation status: machine_predicted_unvalidated
Candidate categoriesnone
Consensus categoriesnone
DomainCandidate signal: none · Consensus signal: none
Study designCandidate signal: Theoretical or conceptual · Consensus signal: none
GenreCandidate signal: Review · Consensus signal: Review
Teacher disagreement score0.005
Threshold uncertainty score0.016

Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)

CategoryCodexGemma
Metaresearch0.0010.001
Meta-epidemiology (narrow)0.0010.000
Meta-epidemiology (broad)0.0010.000
Bibliometrics0.0010.001
Science and technology studies0.0000.001
Scholarly communication0.0010.001
Open science0.0010.001
Research integrity0.0010.001
Insufficient payload (model declined to judge)0.0050.003

Machine scores (provisional)

The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.

Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.

Opus teacher head0.028
GPT teacher head0.436
Teacher spread0.408 · how far apart the two teachers sit on this one work
Validation statusscore_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from it

Classification

machine, unvalidated

Machine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.

The models applied no category: nothing in the taxonomy fit this work.
Study designTheoretical or conceptual
Domainnot available
GenreReview

How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".

Quick stats

Citations1
Published2025
Admission routes1
Has abstractyes

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