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CRISPR, a new genome editing tool, could transform the field of biology—and a recent study on genetically-engineered human embryos has converted this promise into media hype. But scientists have been tinkering with genomes for decades. Why is CRISPR suddenly such a big deal?
The short answer is that CRISPR allows scientists to edit genomes with unprecedented precision, efficiency, and flexibility. The past few years have seen a flurry of “firsts” with CRISPR, from creating monkeys with targeted mutations to preventing HIV infection in human cells. Just last year Chinese scientists announced they applied the technique to nonviable human embryos, hinting at CRISPR’s potential to cure any genetic disease. The number of U.S. patent applications citing Crispr technology jumped from four to more than 230 between 2012 and 2015. This year is already on track to double that figure. Almost every genetics lab in the world is converting to Crispr because it's cheap, precise, and easy to use. THE HUMAN TRIALS ARE UNDERWAY: We won’t hear about the results of this study—or even how the two currently-enrolled patients are doing—until an as-yet uncertain date in the future. But it’s definitely true that CRISPR trials are starting to go mainstream. Other trials are planned in the U.S. and our northern neighbor Canada, while the World Health Organization is currently reckoning with the ethics of any kind of human gene editing. It’s important to know that using CRISPR to alter specific kinds of cells in adult humans is nothing like using CRISPR to edit germline DNA, which is what scientists in China did to twins named Lulu and Nana late last year. The scientific consensus is that we’re nowhere near ready, ethically or scientifically, to start editing germline DNA, which is passed down to future generations. But the therapeutic application happening in this new trial still a big deal: after all, we’ve never edited human genes in this way before |
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