The promise of CRISPR technology has been incredibly promising. Recently in China, a scientist has claimed to create two girls who are resistant to HIV. Why he created this kind of human seems a bit unethical as the only way to test if they’re actually resistant is to expose them to the virus. Furthermore, we have no idea of the health problems they may face in the future. I’m in consensus with the scientific community that CRISPR-Cas9 is not yet established enough to understand what repercussions may lie in wait for transgenic humans.
However, this new kind of method put me a bit more at ease. Instead of cutting out DNA that was broken, it looked to target the non-coding regions before a gene that was not being amplified enough, and give it a new promoter that can help increase the translation of certain proteins. In this case, it was a protein that tells people that they are full and no longer need to eat. This can be used to place in more restrictive promotors or target more upstream genes. Ultimately, there is so much promise currently behind CRISPR that many companies and countries are looking to capitalize. Often times it is much better to take the risk with CRISPR than to lead a life with a chronic and debilitating disease.
Initial trials on mice at UCSF showed that the mice who were gene edited did not gain as much weight as the mice who had broken genes. Once again, the human body is a maze of cascading systems. Rarely do we have silver bullets that do not effect another part of the body. This may work for humans but we should be on the looking for any lingering effects down the line. I absolutely love how genetics and science has gotten so far but I question those who have shoddy ethics and not take the proper steps. I question how we can begin creating crafted humans. Will creating humans resistant to disease lead to an increase in autoimmune diseases or allergies due to a bored immune system? How will we set up trials for gene edited humans as these people who arent even born yet are not ill?
Medicine: Opinions? 