Scientists are working with a new tool in the medical field to try to cure genetic diseases. This new tool has been around for a couple years now and has just been approved to be tested with human beings. CRISPR is a new easy and cheap way to cut and/or replace genes within DNA. CRISPR stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats. In the article “The CRISPR Pioneers” by Alice park; Dr. Carl June from the University of Pennsylvania is using CRISPR to cure or speed up the healing process in cancer patients and other people suffering from genetic diseases. June says,
“Before we were kind of flying in the dark when we were making gene changes…With CRISPR, I came to the conclusion that this technology needs to be tested on humans.”
He believes that CRISPR could be the solution for many more genetic diseases like sickle-cell anemia, cystic fibrosis, Type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s. Even though this sounds like a great thing, Park explains that this method (CRISPR) is hugely controversial.
“The fact that it allows scientists to efficiently edit any gene—for some cancers, but also potentially for a predisposition for red hair, for being overweight, for being good at math—worries ethicists because of what could happen if it gets into the wrong hands.”
This experiment could be an amazing breakthrough for humanity, but it is not a guarantee. Even if this experiment is not successful it will be a huge step in the right direction with gene editing according to Dr. June.
In response to this, I think Alicia Park wrote a very good informative article on CRISPR and its capabilities. She has a very hopeful, serious, and intellectual tones throughout this article with a moment of slight comic relief when talking about the Danish yogurt company. She does mention that this is a very controversial topic, but it seems she is for CRISPR and sees a bright future for humanity through this new gene editing method. And I agree with her standing. This method makes it easy and cheap to choose and pick out certain genes to avoid hereditary diseases and disabilities. CRISPR has already been used on many things to benefit humanity.
“CRISPR produced the first mushroom that doesn’t brown, the first dogs with DNA-boosted cells giving them a comic-book-like musculature, and a slew of nutritionally superior crops that are already on their way to market. There are even efforts to use CRISPR’d mosquitoes to fight Zika and malaria.”
CRISPR has helped people in so many ways that no one knows about. Who says it can’t work on humans?
The use of CRISPR on healthy human embryos has been approved in the U.K. in 2016. This means that we may be able to pick and choose the attributes and genes for our own children. We would be able to pick hair and eye color and whether or not they are athletic. This causes concern for many. Those who are against CRISPR feel this is unnatural and can cause real problems if it gets into the wrong hands. For example some believe if this technology is acquired by a dictator they may be able to use this technology to create a superficial perfect military very similar to the clones in Star Wars. Others are against this technology because it is not natural or it is a big middle finger to God. That altering our own genetics and our own environment is going to ruin humanity. I know those who are against CRISPR for these very reasons. Even though these are very reasonable thoughts and possible outcomes, I believe the pros of CRISPR outweigh the cons.
I watched a very informative video on YouTube called “Genetic Engineering Will Change Everything Forever – CRISPR” by Kurgesagt – In a Nutshell. I suggest that anyone who is intrigued by genetic engineering to watch this video as it goes into detail about the history, current progress of genetic engineering, and how it works. It states that CRISPR will change everything forever as stated by the title. One sentence that caught my attention in this video was “Getting rid of cancer might eventually mean getting just a couple of injections of a few thousand of your own cells that have been engineered in a lab to heal you for good.” This means that we may not be too far from curing diseases and viruses like cancer, like HIV, like sickle-cell anemia, by just getting a few shots and being on our way. This program could be the biggest solution to the biggest war on disease in human history.
Dr. Carl June’s experiment could be a huge stepping stone for humanity itself. This informative article by Alicia Park brings hope and knowledge to its readers while maintaining an interesting standpoint. Alicia Park’s stance on CRISPR is the same as my own; that CRISPR is a great thing for humanity and will be the end of genetic suffering. As Kurgesagt said, “Genetic Engineering Will Change Everything Forever” and I think this is a great change that everyone should be excited for. For it gives those who are affected by these “incurable” sicknesses hope and a bright future with CRISPR.
Previously at https://www.essaysauce.com/essays/history/2017-11-11-1510432148.php since 15.10.2019