The Pros And Cons Of CRISPR Technology

CRISPR is a new gene-modifying tool that has the potential to treat numerous medical conditions by editing genes that are responsible for certain diseases. This technology is based on the ability of bacteria to destroy the DNA of invading viruses. Studies have suggested that this new technology can be applied to human cells, although the idea of chopping up regions of the human genome can be unethical and could even be harmful. In order for the treatment to be administered to a patient, a small piece of RNA and an enzyme that makes a cut in the DNA are delivered to the cells. A biotechnology company, known as Editas Medicine, located in Cambridge, MA, is already designing treatments for conditions of the blood and the eye using CRISPR. For

In theory, CRISPR is an extreme method of gene editing and gene editing has been around for years on end. It has been used on plants to make them a more sustainable crop. CRISPR technology has not yet been perfected to be accessible to everyone. Yet the first clinical crispr trial happened in October of 2016, Michael Le Page tells us that in the first clinical trial of CRISPR being used "Doctors removed immune cells from the blood of a person with lung cancer, used CRISPR to disable a gene called PD-1 and then returned the cells to the body," the results of the trial are said to not be released until 2018 (Le Page 1).

Since the 1980’s, scientists observed a unnatural patterns in some bacterial genomes. One DNA sequence would be repeated over and over again, with original sequences in between the repeats. They called this odd function “clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats,” or CRISPR. This was confusing to all until scientists realized the unique sequences in between the repeats matched the DNA of viruses, specifically viruses that target certain bacteria. It turns out CRISPR is an important part in the bacteria’s immune system, which keeps harmful viruses around so it is recognizable and can defend against those viruses next time they attack for an example; kind of like a book one would keep around to look back on for help even though one does not need the book at the time. The second part of the defense mechanism is a set of enzymes called Cas or, CRISPR-associated proteins, which can precisely locate DNA and remove all of the invading viruses. Conveniently, the genes that encode for Cas are always sitting somewhere near the CRISPR sequences kind

Imagine a world with less cancer, diabetes, and infant mortality. Yet at the same time, imagine a messed up world with “fake” people. There are so many ups and downs with CRISPR that it has caused many uproars as to whether or not it is ethically right to conduct experiments with. With this technique, we could help lots of people across the world. Yet at the same time, we could screw up and ruin the world with this technique. We need to set a firm line as to whether or not CRISPR is ethical.

CRISPR stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat, referring to the repeating DNA sequences found in the genomes of microorganisms. CRISPR technology allows scientists to make precise changes in genes by splicing and replacing these DNA sequences with new ones. Through these changes, the biology of the cell is altered and possibly affects the health of an organism. The possibilities are endless as this offers opportunities in curing deadly diseases, modifying genes, and changing humanity as we know it. Although bioengineering has been around since the 1960s, CRISPR is significant because of the comparative low costs and the ease of the procedure to

A defective gene is most times caused by a virus getting into your DNA which later turns into a disease. The way CRISPR can fix this disease is going into your DNA, finding the

Reviewing the ethical dilemmas on this topic listed earlier, those with some type of religious background will most likely have a harder time accepting this new area of scientific development. Whereas, those who do not involve religious beliefs in their view point may see CRISPR as a revolutionary scientific discovery that will significantly benefit the greater good. Allowing CRISPR to be further research, and hopefully one day used, can greatly impact billions of people in such an amazing way. Living with an incurable disease or having the potential to develop one later on in life can be detrimental to not only the individual, but the individual’s family. Eliminating terminal genetic diseases will not only relieve people of pain and

Genetic diseases and illnesses have been of much concern for many years, leaving many deceased or with a poor quality of life. Due to the implication of modern medicine and other techniques used for treatments, mortality rates have decreased and the average life expectancy has increased. Unfortunately, every individual responds differently to the type of treatment they need, which is why the implication of personalized medicine is forthcoming. A certain technique that has been distinguished and commended by researchers today is known as clustered regulatory interspaced short palindromic repeats, or CRISPR. CRISPR is associated with Cas9, and it is a popular genome editing technique which can be programmed to target specific areas of DNA and

CRISPR/Cas9 DNA editing system is a prokaryotic immune system that becomes resistant to foreign genetics such as plasmids. CRISPR stands for Clustered Regularly-Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, which are prokaryotic DNA strands that have a short repetition base sequence. Cas9 is a nuclease enzyme that is used to cut into DNA strands that are associated with CRISPR type II. CRISPR/Cas9 system has several advantages when using this technology in the biological and biomedical sciences. It also has a few disadvantages that cause concerns when using this system in the medicine field. However, before all of this can be discussed, a depth of what CRISPR/Cas9 is and where it comes from and why is it important to the biology field.

Imagine a world where we can control genetics. What if we had the opportunity to eliminate all genetic diseases in just a few steps. Imagine a society where anyone could flip through a catalog to shop for traits to “design” their child. This may seem a little far fetched, however this imagined world may soon become possible through the rapid advancing development of genetic engineering. New and advanced technology has finally made it possible to access and hack the human genome. New gene editing technology called CRISPR Cas-9 has completely transformed the biomedical field. CRISPR Cas-9 is cheap, precise, efficient and ultimately works on all living organisms. Advanced genetic technology that have allowed us to genetically modify our food and clone sheep, may one day give parents the option to modify their own children. However the idea of one day creating “designer babies” sparks great controversy.

In the world of science we face a myriad of controversial studies that confront bad press from the public for various reasons, even if the origins reside in the aspiration of the betterment of mankind. One of these studies is the process of gene editing in an attempt to provide people with better health or longer living by moving around and replacing key strands of DNA in their system. Many people opposed to this style of treatment see it as unnatural to mess with nature, some it is perceived as unholy in the eyes of their religious beliefs, and other just care for the safety of the patients that are willing to undergo this sort of treatment. However, me and many others believe that the pros of gene editing out weight the cons. Gene editing may very well may be the secret to unlock the secret to longer and healthier living and maybe push us to something even better than that.

Even though it was discovered in 1987 by a research team at Osaka University, the true power of CRISPR, which functions as an adaptive bacteria immune defense, was not realized until the completion of the Human Genome Project in the early 2000’s (Carroll and Zhou 63-64). There are only two components of CRISPR, a guide RNA sequence (gRNA) and a Cas9 endonuclease protein. When the gRNA binds to its matching template DNA sequence, the Cas9 protein cuts the template DNA sequence resulting in the inactivation of that specific gene (Hille and Charpentier 3). In addition, a mutant gene can be replaced by adding another piece of DNA with the desired sequence, which will bind to the cut DNA template strand and become incorporated into the host

My first key question I think is important is authority. I think that they should not use CRISPR. I think this because of my religious belief. I think that god made us for who we are and using CRISPR would change who we would be as a person. God created each person for who they are. For example, if someone had autism but they took it away before the fetus is born then they are changing that fetus whole life that God had planned

Crispr uses its protein Cas9 to precisely snip out a piece of DNA at any point within the genome and then neatly stitch the ends back together. This way of editing is effortless and has a deep appeal. This article goes in depth on how Crispr works.

The education of the public is the quickest way to increase the approval of the CRISPR