A benchmarked, high-efficiency prime editing platform for multiplexed dropout screening

Prime editing installs precise edits into the genome with minimal unwanted byproducts, but low and variable editing efficiencies have complicated application of the approach to high-throughput functional genomics. Leveraging several advances, we assembled a prime editing platform capable of high-efficiency substitution editing suitable for functional interrogation of small genetic variants. We benchmarked this platform for pooled, loss-of-function screening using a library of 240,000 engineered prime editing guide RNAs (epegRNAs) targeting approximately 17,000 codons with 1-3 bp substitutions. Comparing the abundance of these epegRNAs across screen samples identified negative selection phenotypes for 7,996 nonsense mutations targeted to 1,149 essential genes, and for synonymous mutations that disrupted splice site motifs at 3' exon boundaries. Rigorous evaluation of codon-matched controls demonstrated that these phenotypes were highly specific to the intended edit. Altogether, we establish a prime editing approach for multiplexed, functional characterization of genetic variants with simple readouts.