I don’t want to agitate people right now but it just bothers me when

people talk about ethics. Let’s be honest, we all have done unethical things
before, varying from little things or big ones.
When I was a little girl. My mom always says “Consult me or ask me first
if you’re not certain of what you are doing or you will be doing.” And yes, I did
consult her on some things that I’m not sure of. However, there are times that I
don’t. There are times that I get curious enough to not even mind asking my
mom if what I will be doing is right or safe. With this thought, it came back to
me what Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues were doing. The Crispr Cas9. A
unique technology that enables geneticists and medical researchers to edit
parts of the genome. Which could lead to treatments for a genetic disease but
can also be harnessed for unnecessary things”.
As we know, scientists are not the same as my little self. However, in
things that we are not certain of, we often describe or count ourselves in the
“still a child state”-innocent and curious. With this in mind, would scientists
like Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues will possess the curiosity of a child
where they neglect the safe and right conduct at the expense of science and
satisfaction?
In a TEDx talk, Jennifer Doudna reviews how Crispr-Cas9 works, she
tells us what it can do, where we are now, and why she thinks we need to take
a prudent path forward in the way that we employ the technology. It was
important to know that the talk happened 7 years ago. And, what she said
before has surely now made progress.
In Doudna’s talk, she explains that they are still figuring out how to
deliver the CRISPR tool into cells. They also want to understand better how to
control the way that DNA is repaired after it's cut, and also to figure out how to
control and limit any kind of off-target, or unintended effects of using the
technology. With that in mind, we can say that Crispr-cas9 still has a long way
to go.
What I love about this new technology is that it has a good reason.
Unlike other research such as human cloning and more. For instance, a family
that is fighting for conditions such as AIDS, Hemophilia, and muscular
dystrophy. It would be jubilation. Imagine going through such hardships and
fear that this genetic disease gives to people. Certainly, Crispr Cas9 is hope for
everyone.
Doudna clearly explains that Crispr Cas9 has good benefits but it can
also be harnessed badly. In my opinion. I do not believe that this technology
will be used only for good. Doudna and her team made the right decision of a
global pause right there, and I admire them for that. However, there are things
that people cannot control. There are currently about 7.7 billion people on this
planet and I bet that at least in all of these people some will think recklessly,
covered by greed. Some people will get too excited about this and just jump
toward it without control. Some will think only for themselves seeing only the
benefit or profit they can gain. Some people will think about setting moral
principles but proceed with their research anyway. Briefly, the idea that it will
be used for good is real, however, promising that it will only be used for good is
a fantasy.
Expressing all of this, I think I learned a lot. And I want to still know
more. How exactly the CRISPR-Cas 9 activity could be harnessed for genome
engineering? To what lengths does the Crispr-Cas9 will be undergone to be
successful. Experimenting with animals is different than humans and at least
there are chances that the success rate is too low in animals. How much more
in humans? For babies that were to be experimented on, what about their
rights as they still can’t give consent. And if it was successful, were the
experimented humans have equal rights the same as ours?