Plasmodium falciparum: Genome editing with Zinc-Finger Nucleases. Plasmodium falciparum

This study reports rapid and targeted genetic engineering of Plasmodium falciparum using zinc-finger nucleases that produce a double-strand break in a user-defined locus and triggers homology-directed repair. Targeting an integrated egfp locus, we obtained gene-deletion parasites. Zinc-finger nucleases engineered against the parasite gene pfcrt, responsible for escape under chloroquine treatment, rapidly produced parasites that carried an allelic replacement of specified point mutation.