CRISPR by Petar Puskar

For thousands of years humans have been molding much of the life around us to better suit our needs. From the domestication of animals to the selective breeding of fruits & vegetables; much of the life we interact with today was molded by people of the past to better suit our needs in the present. In the previous century we made even further progress in this field with the discovery of DNAs function and double helix structure. This of course begs the question. What if we could alter that structure thereby changing the characteristics of the organisms carrying the DNA? Enter CRISPR.

            CRISPR is a technology derived from bacteria which developed a way to combat bacteriophages using the Cas9 protein. The Cas9 protein serves to cut the DNA while a guide RNA recognizes the sequence of DNA that is to be removed and edited. By replacing the natural anti-bacteriophage guide RNA with our own specifically chosen guide RNA the possibilities of CRISPER are quite literally endless. Not only is this technology very effective but it has great ease of handling, high accuracy, high throughput, and low cost.

            One obvious potential use of the technology is the development of designer babies in the embryo using human germline genome editing. By editing the genes during development instead of after birth, new CRISPER genes could be passed down from human to human. This could lead to permanent changes that could be passed on from one generation to the next. Over hundreds of years, humans could develop an entire series of modifications including immunities to diseases, physical changes, intelligence enhancements etc. Eventually, these changes could be so extreme as to even halt aging or create changes so profound modified people could potentially survive in environments that were previously lethal to humans.

            The enormous potential of CRISPR technology and therapy is a major question for the field of bioethics in the future. One obvious bioethical issue is the potential for the occurrence of undesirable changes in the genome. These undesirable changes are very common when using CRISP technology and this makes it easy for them to be transferred to future generations in the future. Many physical characteristics are associated with multiple genes and through the interaction of various genes. By editing the genome without even understanding the basics of the intricacies of the genome, the potential for catastrophic consequences is certainly possible.

            Another major issue is the question of what happens if germline genome editing is a stunning success. Will this lead to families essentially engaging in a eugenic arms race with one another to create babies that are stronger, taller, smarter, more likely to succeed etc. Additionally, what happens to those people born without any CRISPR modifications and is it fair for them to have to live and compete in a world where some people are essentially super humans? It seems as if the possibilities of CRISPR technology are as vast as its bioethical concerns.