Cutting Edge Technology
People are terrified of change. The future can be a huge terrifying unknown, and that can be something that is difficult to process. As technology grows and becomes more efficient, people tend to shy away as they feel as though they are losing control. This is the case in CRISPR-cas9. Jennifer Doudna is an American biochemist as well as a professor at the University of California in Berkeley, where she teaches molecular and cellular biology and chemistry. She also co-invented the technology known as CRISPR-cas9. Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats; otherwise, known as CRISPR-cas9 is a ‘spacer’ that is found in bacteria. CRISPR-cas9 was first discovered when scientists were searching for how bacteria fight off viral infections. When a virus infects bacteria, the bacteria only have moments to fight off the virus until it is completely taken over. To fight off the virus bacteria use their “adaptive immune system”, called CRISPR. The CRISPR within bacteria allows the bacteria to hunt down the virus and neutralize it. The bacteria will take away part of the DNA and store it safely within itself. If the same virus were to come around again, the RNA will copy that segment of DNA which will then be turned over to a protein called cas9. The specific protein within the CRISPR system called cas9 is what eventually will “seek out and degrade” the DNA within the virus. The protein will compare it’s old virus sample with thousands of other strands of DNA until it finds a perfect match, then it will cut out the new virus sample rendering it useless. Doctor Doudna and her colleagues would then discover that they had the ability to harness this protein and it’s “cutting abilities”. This new technology would allow a scientist to add or take away specific bits of DNA in a cell. There have already been alterations in mice and monkeys, even in human embryos. A scientist can be so precise with CRISPR-cas9 that they have the ability to remove the HIV virus from human cells. When CRIPSR-cas9 has used it not only takes out the harmful virus, but it also records it so that cells that will be made in the future will continue to be guarded against this. Doctor Doudna explains it as “the CRISPR locus is effectively a genetic vaccination card in cells”. Though there are many other ways to manipulate cells, CRISPR-cas9 is the cheapest, the quickest as well as the most effective. There have been previous experiments, as Doctor Doudna explains, where a small change in the genome of a mouse can completely change the color of a mouse: “Imagine that these white mice differ from their pigmented litter-mates by just a tiny change at one gene in the entire genome, and they're otherwise completely normal.” Doudna goes on to explain that human trails can be expected in the next ten years, that she expects that we will not only be using this on things such as illnesses but genetically superior humans. Things such as humans with “stronger bones” or “less susceptibility to cardiovascular disease”, she even goes so far as to say we may induce more desirable traits such as height or eye color. Doudna explains that she and her colleagues called a pause and all commercial productions of CRISPR-cas9, due to the ethical dilemmas faced with the Nation. We all need to consider the possibilities of a future with CRISPR without being scared by the possibility of a new future. While most people find CRISPR-cas9 terrifying because it has the ability to change humanity forever, that’s why I think it’s the very reason that it is amazing. As Doctor Doudna says, though it may seem like people may want to just use it for cosmetic proposes, the use of CRISPR-cas9 goes much further beyond changing an embryos hair color, but if could go so far as to make a child immune to a genetic illness such as Alzheimer’s or diabetes. There are many uses of CRISPR that we could utilize in the future. (reword)New technology can be fascinating and scary at the same time. When something new comes around the bend people tend to reject it because of the scary “what ifs”. Such is the case with CRISPR. Though there are so many new exciting developments with CRISPR, we may even see the eradication of genetic diseases in our lifetime. There are so many different diseases that ravenge the world today, such as Muscular dystrophies. Muscular dystrophies affects approximately 1 in 3,500 male births, being fatal in almost all cases. Though there have been advances in the past 30 years, none have been a breakthrough quite like CRISPR. As a study by Li Xu and collogues on lab rats found CRISPR-cas9 has the ability to, “effectively correct the primary genetic defect without retaining the original dysfunctional copy of the gene”. This means that test subjects were able to regain a normal quality of life that would be otherwise unattainable. Not only were subjects able to regain the muscle ability but some were able to pass it on to their offspring’s. The ability to do this astounded scientist and left them with high hopes for the future of CRISPR-cas9.
The other main use of CRISPR is its agricultural benefits.
Some may argue that utilizing CRISPR is unethical, specifically sighting its use in cosmetics. Doctor Doudna specified that that is not a top priority for the scientist developing CRISPR, it somehow remains the most talked about issue within it. There is so much more to the science behind CRISPR, to look at just the cosmetic possibilities is to just look at the tip of the iceberg. If you overlook an entire science due to the possibility of someone misusing it you are doing the world a gross mis-service. In the eyes of many, the pros outweigh the cons when considering that we have the science to eradicate certain diseases. Some people may argue that the scientist who experiments with CRISPR are playing god. Daryl Sas and Hannah Lawrenz bring up in their study, “Ethics & Medicine: An International Journal of Bioethics.”, that CRISPR may be going against Christian beliefs. They state that if it were to change the body, outside of what God had intended, then it should not be done. But in this case, I think they are arguing a moot point, as we change our bodies all the time. If you look all the way back to ancient times humans have altered their bodies, whether that’s through tattoos or even wearing glasses. You are changing yourself to be a better version of yourself, a healthier version of yourself, and that’s entirely okay. You have the right to try to be a better, happier person in this world.
New Norms in the scientific community can often be scary but they can be so worth it if you take a chance on them. Vaccines were once new and scary but now they have saved the lives of millions. Fear of the unknown if driving us from furthering our scientific thought and thus hindering us. But I truly believe, as does Doctor Doudna, that CRISPR has the ability to change humanity for the better.
...(download the rest of the essay above)