Diseases such as cancer, arthritis, diabetes, and so many more have caused pain and struggles that so many have to endure when they are faced with one of these diseases. Today, scientists have now made strides towards a future without any of these diseases through a technology called CRISPR. CRISPR stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, which is simply repetitive DNA sequences in bacteria that allow scientists to cut out certain sections of DNA that may be mutated and replace them with a new DNA sequence aiming to reverse or fix what the previous DNA sequence was causing (Harvey 2014). How exactly does CRISPR work? As mentioned previously, CRISPR is made up of repetitive DNA sequences in bacteria. This bacteria, once it has infected a body, can transcribe its DNA elements to RNA. Once converted to RNA, it guides a nuclease to the specific DNA sequence to cut (Jax.com 2020).
The possibilities of CRISPR seem to be endless, as we may be able to change any part of our genome ultimately changing ourselves forever. Currently, human clinical studies are already being run on the effects of CRISPR for cancer therapy and for editing retinal cells to rid the human body of leber’s congenital amaurosis 10 (Jax.com 2020).
Although these clinical trials give hope to those with a chronic disease that someday soon there may be a solution for riding their bodies of that certain disease, there are limitations and ethical issues that arise with CRISPR. For example, changing the genome of a person alters their body forever and also changes the DNA of future generations. The ethical dilemma is if it is morally correct to in some ways “play God” and change the DNA of generations to come. Secondly, CRISPR is also able to edit the genomes of gametes affecting the embryo and future generations. Lastly, CRISPR is not yet 100% accurate and any changes to the genome will be permanent and may cause serious problems if it were to cut the wrong sequence of DNA
Science and technology are more advanced than ever and it is only becoming better. Although CRISPR has been revolutionary in offering a solution for so many of the world’s diseases, scientist and society should be careful with the decisions that will soon be made on CRISPR (Shwartz 2018). Regulations on what CRISPR can specifically be used for need to be clearly written out as we do not want anyone to take advantage of this technology. The sky is the limit with CRISPR, but we need to have a clear and ethical approach, only helping those who truly are in need of this technology and not for those looking to enhance the human body.
References:
Harvey, Paul et al. “CRISPR: A Game-Changing Genetic Engineering Technique.” Science in the News, 31 July 2014, sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2014/crispr-a-game-changing-genetic-engineering-technique/.
Stanford Medicine. “CRISPR Is a Gene-Editing Tool That's Revolutionary, Though Not without Risk.” Stanford Medicine, 2018, stanmed.stanford.edu/2018winter/CRISPR-for-gene-editing-is-revolutionary-but-it-comes-with-risks.html.
“What Is CRISPR?” The Jackson Laboratory, www.jax.org/personalized-medicine/precision-medicine-and-you/what-is-crispr.
I enjoyed reading your post and I liked your fair handed approach to CRISPR. It is difficult to draw the line between enhancing your body and preventing disease. If someone has ADHD, which has been associated with certain genetic differences, they have a higher chance of comorbid major depressive disorder (Goodman, 2014). Apart from statistics that show that those with ADHD have lower quality of life, people with ADHD can live a pretty normal lives. Does changing these genetic differences to prevent ADHD fall into the area of "those who are truly in need of this technology" or "those looking to enhance the human body?" Overall, I'm curious who would make those distinctions and if it is moral to decide what people do with their genes for them.
ReplyDeleteGoodman, D. (2014, November 7). Adult ADHD and Comorbid Depressive Disorders: Diagnostic challenges and treatment options: CNS Spectrums. Cambridge Core. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cns-spectrums/article/abs/adult-adhd-and-comorbid-depressive-disorders-diagnostic-challenges-and-treatment-options/DE02B0C907D0EFB5183B1067B0EF8631