England, Feb. 1 -- Scientists have successfully engineered the most complicated human cell lines ever, indicating that our genomes are more tolerant to significant structural alterations than previously assumed.

Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Imperial College London, and Harvard University in the US and their collaborators used CRISPR prime editing to create multiple versions of human genomes in cell lines, each with different structural changes. Using genome sequencing, they were able to analyse the genetic effects of these structural variations on cell survival.

The research shows that as long as essential genes remain intact, our genomes can tolerate significant structural changes, including large deletions of the ge...