How far can CRISPR go?

Before we can answer this question, we need to ask ourselves. What is CRISPR? And how can it affect
humans?

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats also known as CRISPR, is a type of gene
editor. It was discovered after scientist realized that bacteria used it to record the DNA of
bacteriophages. CRISPR would take the information and compare with the DNA it was given until it
found a perfect match. Once a match is found, it would destroy it. This is very impressive because to
be able to do so, CRISPR needs to have the utmost precision which then aiding us to continue with
the endeavour of genome editing.

Now, after hearing about what CRISPR is, you may be wondering how this can help with editing
genes. To put it simply, when CRISPR destroys part of the DNA, it then triggers homology-directed
repair (HDR) to begin repairing the DNA. Scientists can exploit HDR to guide a new sequence to the
endogenous gene.

There are many examples of CRISPR being used to edit genes. One example is a farm in UC Davis
used CRISPR to genetically modify cows so then most of the cows born in the farm would be male.
This was because male cows are more proficient to produce better quality beef with less green house
gases emitted.

Another example when the CRISPR was used to genetically modify human’s gene is in Shenzhen
China. In 2018, Dr. Jiankui He of Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen claimed
that on November 25th, 2018, he had created the first genetically edited babies using CRISPR. His
intention was to figure out a way to end the HIV epidemic. Dr Jiankui He made an experiment using
CRISPR to edit twin girl babies so then they become immune to HIV as there were no cure to HIV at
that time. His experiment was successful. However, despite this ground-breaking innovation, Dr
Jiankui He received a lot of condemnations for using human as experiments and was sent to prison
for 3 years.

Another more recent examples are Scientists in the University of Edinburgh were experimenting
using CRISPR to create a model to make pigs resistant to Porcine Respiratory and Reproductive
Syndrome Virus (PRRSV). Due to ethical reasons, the scientists were only creating a scientific model
instead of experimenting on living animals, therefore there has not been any living pigs used in the
experiments.

CRISPR certainly offers a lot of possibilities and potentials for revolutionary works which could
improve human lives. But it also raises ethical and risks issues that must be considered for. Scientists
could make mistakes which could cause significant risks to humankind or colossal damage to the
environment. Modified gene may change over time in a way that may cause negative effects such as
creating further diseases or completely alter the ecosystem’s balances. Some people could try to
exploit this technology to create super viruses as weapon of mass destruction to attack another
country. Some may also use CRISPR to create a ‘perfect humans’ for elite group which could create
discrimination and unfair disadvantages to those who could not afford the technology. For all those
reasons mentioned, in many countries, CRISPR is still illegal.

We’ve seen above the benefits of CRISPR above. However, there are many ethical considerations that
need to be addressed before it widely used.
Sources
https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/04/04/1048829/he-jiankui-prison-free-crispr-babies/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8vi_PdGrKg

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0093691X20300765

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnlJ6dRfPFg

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1877117317301205