Abstract: Gene editing tools with nucleases as the main component have now implemented programmable targeted mutagenesis or insertion or deletion of mammalian genomes.From zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), CRISPR/Cas system to safer and more accurate Cas9 fusion protein gene editing tools and other nuclease gene editing tools, this paper systematically describes the development and evolution of gene editing, with detailed introduction to the development and optimization of next-generation gene editing tools, and a prospect of the clinical application of and challenges for gene editing tools.