CRISPR-Cas9 Essay Example

The genetic field has been fuming with new scientific developments and studies, hoping to benefit our society. Success has been made with modifying plants and animals to help improve our lifestyles. Although there has been countless methods and tools to help with theses success, CRISPR-Cas9 has proven its self to be the most powerful and efficient. (Rossant, 2018) That being said, scientists have been eager to apply this tool to humans. 

The potential for groundbreaking medical applications with CRISPR-Cas9 is in sight of many scientists. There are countless diseases like HIV and cancer that are millions of people to suffer, but with this technology, there is the hope of a cure in the future. (Ayanoğlu, Elçin, & Elçin, 2020) The ability to fix genetically inherited diseases before a child is even born sounds like a plan that we should be pursuing globally, but it is not that simple. There are growing ethical concerns and data showing how unintentional genetic mutations are very much possible.

Concerns over the uses of CRISPR-Cas9 continue to rise as the topic of the human genome becomes more prevalent. There was a recent global outcry when Chines researcher, He Jiankui, used CRISPR-Cas9 to edit the embryos of twin baby girls. (Weintraub, 2019) This procedure was not regulated and he violated many ethical guidelines. The real concern is that when modifying embryos, any changes will be passed on through generation so if there are errors, major health consequences. Examples like these are fueling the debate and controversy of human genome editing with CRISP-Cas-9.

CRISPR-Cas9 is originally found in bacteria as a defense system against foreign invaders. (Rodríguez‑Rodríguez, Ramírez‑Solís, Garza‑Elizondo, Garza‑Rodríguez, & Barrera‑Saldaña, 2019) The bacteria would create CRISPR arrays that have the DNA of invading viruses so the bacteria can remember the virus. Then the CRISPR portion attacks the virus and the Cas9 cuts the DNA of the virus. (Valenti, Serena, Carbonare, & Zipeto, 2019) Scientists have modified and used CRISPR-Cas9 as a molecular scissor by guiding the tool to specific parts of DNA and cutting DNA they want to change and replacing it with their own wishes. (Weintraub, 2019) Now there are two types of cells that can target somatic cells or germ cells. (Rossant, 2018) The somatic cells are all the cells in your body that are not reproductive cells. Scientists target these cells to help treat or prevent diseases. Germ cells are those reproductive cells and there is even more concern when it comes to editing these cells. Unlike somatic cells where editing only affects that patient, germline editing results in the transfer of genes across generations. If any changes or unintended off-target mutations are made during germline editing the transfer of these possible errors brings up many dangers to future children and ethical concerns on whether we should be putting future generations at risk.