TALENs

TALENs were a kind of genetic engineering tool. They are restriction enzymes because they can cut specific sequences of DNA. They have a binding domain (strip of bases) and a cleavage domain.

The letters stand for "transcription activator-like effector nucleases". The technique was called "genome editing with engineered nucleases". Together with zinc finger nucleases and CRISPR/Cas9, TALEN was for a while an important tool in genome editing.^[1]

TALENs have now been superseded by CRISPR techniques.^[2]

1. ↑ Boch J. 2011. TALEs of genome targeting. Nature Biotechnology. 29 (2): 135–6. PMID https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21301438/
2. ↑ Doudna J. & Sternberg S. 2017. A crack in creation: the new power to control evolution. Bodley Head, London, p111. ISBN 978-1-847-92382-0