Great Power, Great Responsibility

I am Kaylyn Stewart from the KAS research center. I have a bachelors in biological science from Louisiana Tech University and I’m in the process of getting my masters in biomedical engineering. At KAS, we are currently gathering research on the world’s top new promising technology known as genome editing. Our goal at the KAS research center is to shine the light on the advantages and disadvantages of genome editing around the world and provide the public with core evidence and explanations for the defaults that have taken place with most genome editing experiments.

There are many incurable diseases in the world that affect an organism’s way of living. Cystic Fibrosis, a disease with no known cure, affects 1 out of 3600 Canadian child’s digestive system and lungs, while a person with sickle cell anemia is only expected to live forty to sixty years. Both of these diseases are similar in the way that they are inherited genetically; they are passed on from parents to their children. Scientists are producing a way to help these people called Genetic Engineering. This is a way of modifying an organism’s genome to produce a more desirable trait by manually adding new DNA.

Genome editing, or gene editing, is a type of genetic engineering in which DNA is inserted, deleted or replaced in the genome of a living organism using engineering ucleasus, or “molecular scissors” in the layman's terms. The technology at head of this procedure is the CRISPR-Cas9,the most versatile and precise method of gene editing and also is what made gene editing the hot topic it is in the medical world. As a result, of this breakthrough medical scientists have the ability to cure sickness, by eliminating genes that cause disease doctors can treat a wide range of illness

Research at Harvard’s Medical School Laboratory has developed CRISPR, which essentially is working on doing the job of editing out the genes we don’t want and putting in ones we do. At the moment, this is only being done with small animals like pigs, but Chruch and Yang firmly suggest that we aren’t far along from doing this with humans and that we have the technology; they say the wait is just getting the rest of the science community on board with the project. An interview through MIT Technology Review interviews Yang and the studies with Harvard noting,“By editing the DNA of these cells or the embryo itself, it could be possible to correct disease genes and pass those genetic fixes on to future generations. Such a technology could be used to rid families of scourges like cystic fibrosis. It might also be possible to install genes that offer lifelong protection against infection, Alzheimer’s, and, Yang told me, maybe the effects of aging” (MIT Technology Review). The technique of editing the genome mainly exists in the embryo, but of course this technology is still in its early stages and hasn’t had the highest success rates, reportedly only 20-40% of the time according the

John Harris an author writing about gene editing expresses that the procedure can provide more benefit than harm. John illustrates in the article, “yes, their are issues with the process,but the amount of breakthrough that can be achieved s able to have the issues be overlooked”(Harris). Even though there are issues with the experimentation the scientific advancement this can provide will help change the future. When the gene editing is finally complete and mastered by the bio-technicians, it can help save lives. Even with the risks presented the scientific community is leaning in favor for the process, because of the long term benefits it can

The animals that belong in our ecosystem is diminishing as time goes on, many of which we have not thought of becoming endangered, are being threatened. Scientists have figured out an alternative solution to save species from being threatened by humans and natural disasters. This alternative way is gene editing, as Joseph Dussault stated in the Christian Monitor: “Gene drive, a controversial genetic editing technique through which scientists could alter or eliminate entire species, is mostly discussed alongside Zika and malaria fears” (par. 2). It can help save species as well as turn it around and attack themselves for carrying a disease. With the use of gene editing, helping preserve the species

Scientists, for some time now, have been concerned about the dangers of altering the human germ line. Until now, the worries have been purely theoretical. But a technique invented recently makes it possible to edit the genome precisely and with much greater ease. The technique holds the power to repair or enhance any human gene. Genetic labs around the world are adapting this technique for they believe the benefits to be boundless. However, considering the ethical complications of genome editing affecting future generations, scientists have called for a moratorium on human genome editing, that would alter human DNA in a way that can be inherited until issues of safety and efficiency are addressed. I believe there should be a more or less permanent

In a few years today's world could be completely different. We could potentially have cures to our most fatal genetic diseases, and they could be nothing more than a simple cold. Gene editing will make this world better and will change us

The article goes on to add another group led by Feng Zhang, who comes from the prestigious institutions of MIT and Harvard. Along with the issue of controversial cuts, the idea of gene editing works when the removal of a malignant gene is required, but not when a gene has an apparent need to be replaced. For diseases such as cystic fibrosis and Tay-Sachs, the piece of DNA needs to be replaced to heal correctly. The researchers in China mentioned in the beginning of the article tested his method on embryos with more chromosomes, which came out futile. Then, they tried with normal embryos, which had 100% accuracy. However, it is inconclusive whether or not gene editing could potentially be the solution to the plight of certain diseases.

Human genome editing has the impact to be life altering. Human Genome editing impacts social, political, as well as ethnical issues (Kane). It can cure diseases such as cancer and save lives by allowing humans to alter genetic defects. Humans will be able to create the “perfect person.” However, human genome editing also has the impact to create fear. Adolf Hitler attempted to create the “perfect person” and all of History knows how that ended.

Although the idea of editing genes has been around for quite a while now, genome editing using CRISPR does this cheaper, quicker, with less error than ever before and can target very specific areas of the genome to change. CRISPR may be able to alter genetic defects in a person’s genome and therefore cure many hereditary illnesses like cystic fibrosis. The concern with genome editing in the future is that if scientists can eliminate genetic defects in an egg or embryo to cure a person of a genetic disease, then in theory, it is possible to create a ‘designer baby’, where hair colour, eye colour and perhaps things like height and intelligence are manipulated, which massively impacts

Recently, a group of Chinese scientists has shocked the world by successfully creating a genetically modified embryo in their lab using CRISPR, a powerful defense system in bacteria against viruses. Although some scientists celebrated the achievement as a monument, some argued that the experiment was wrong and unethical. They claimed that we should not use CRISPR as a tool to edit human genome and overcome certain diseases or against age because these may be contradicting to the natural evolutionary pathway (Radiolab, 2015). Indeed, changes in DNA would cause enormous impacts that even humans are unable to control. Besides artificially editing DNA sequences, there are indirect ways. Environmental interactions could be an ethical solution.

In fact, at the current time, scientists still lack the information on whether the process of using CRISPR-Cas9 will have any bad effects on people or not. In fact, even the most advanced technology can still make a mistake once in a while and hence this method is not accepted by many scientists. In addition, gene editing also create a new utopian world for many people, where obsession with perfectionism fills everyone’s heart as they look for way to create the best and most powerful race. By attempting to achieve such delusion, people have gone against their own moral and will further destroy the future of their own children. Furthermore, the process of gene editing will extend the huge gap between the poor and the rich. At the same time, it creates a new generation where people value will now be decided before they are born and those who are valuable might just be clones of

There are around 6,000 known genetic disorders (Genetic Disease Foundation). The symptoms of these disorders range from memory loss to blindness, physical abnormalities and more. A process known as gene editing was created in an attempt to do away with genetic disorders. Gene editing was named “Science Magazine 's Breakthrough of the Year 2015” due to its ease and high accessibility (ScienceDirect). It works by using CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) and Cas9 to make changes in the genes of cells. Francisco Mojica discovered CRISPR in 1993 at the University of Alicante in Spain (Broad Institute). It works by adding, changing or even removing DNA bases (Your Genome). Alexander Bolotin discovered Cas9 in 2005 at the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (Broad Institute). Cas9 is an enzyme that “acts as a pair of ‘molecular scissors’ that can cut two strands of DNA at a specific location in the genome so that bits of DNA can then be added or removed” (YourGenome). “The CRISPR-Cas9 system has been used to correct genetic mutations and for replacing entire genes, opening up a world of possibilities for the treatment of genetic diseases” (ScienceDirect). This makes CRISPR-Cas9 a new and revolutionary technology with a wide range of potential applications, and almost everybody will be affected by gene editing in one way or another. The scientists currently working on making human gene editing a reality, is only one group of

In this paper, I will discuss the earthshaking but controversial technology, gene editing of human reproductive cells. Gene editing of human reproductive cell is using special technology like clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (shorten by CRISPER) to edit the gene manually before the reproductive transplanted to mother’s womb. In 2014, Chinese scientist Huang, J published his paper about the gene editing of human zygote of triprokaryote which is a cell like embryo but cannot grow up to a normal fetus. His research led to heated discussion on whether this technology should be studied. This research could bring epic medical and scientific value, it could put an end to several tough hereditary diseases including thalassemia and sickle cell disease, which are hard to cured with traditional medical technology. Conversely, it still has several disadvantages, the research will lead to several ethic controversies and the application could result in dangerous social issue. Currently, in science community, the feasibility and the potential risks of this technology are under heated discussion, and it is hard to come into a common agreement. Based on current science condition and common perceive, nowadays, I don’t think the research and application should be supported because in my view, some of the disadvantages are not acceptable and some potential risks are unaffordable. In my view, scientists shouldn’t go on with the further research