CRISPR: Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats
CRISPR is one of the greatest medical advancements in recent history. Discovered in 1987, it is a component of bacterial immune systems that can cut DNA and has been repurposed as a powerful genome-editing tool. It can cure genetic diseases that were once thought incurable, such as cystic fibrosis and cancer.
However, some people often question its ethicality and wonder whether it is necessary. There is no doubt that the medical field will continue expanding. It is changing the world and the human lifestyle.
History
CRISPRs were first discovered in the sequences of DNA from E. coli bacteria in 1987 by a Japanese scientist, Yoshizumi Ishino, and his team. According to Bite Size Bio, they “accidentally cloned an unusual series of repeated sequences interspersed with spacer sequences while analyzing a gene responsible for the conversion of alkaline phosphatase.” However, they didn’t discover CRISPR’s full potential due to the lack of sufficient DNA sequence data. It wasn’t until years later that scientists discovered that it could be used to edit genomes.
How it Works
To put it simply, CRISPR works by precisely cutting DNA and then letting natural DNA repair processes take over. The system consists of two parts: the Cas9 enzyme and a guide RNA. It works by deciding which gene will be cut, designing a gRNA to target a specific PAM sequence near that region, and expressing that gRNA in the cell of interest in addition to an endonuclease protein such as Cas9 or Cpf1.
Ethicality
Human genome editing poses some hefty ethical questions for many. Some wonder where to draw the line regarding CRISPR’s use. The most contentious issues are the challenges to human safety and morality such as the risk of unforeseen, undesirable effects in clinical applications particularly to correct or prevent genetic diseases, the matter of informed consent and the risk of exploitation for eugenics.
Potential for the Future
The future for CRISPR looks bright as Scientists predict that it will yield multiple approved medical treatments and be used to modify crops, making them more productive and resistant to disease and climate change. With all the issues faced today regarding acing so many challenges in our society, inequities, challenges to our health, challenges to our environment, CRISPR seems to be a miracle that can solve all of these issues.
Conclusion
It goes without saying that CRISPR is revolutionary to the medical field. Although people question its ethicality, it certainly proves that genome editing is merely one of the reasons why these advancements in medicine must be funded. It is positively impacting the world because humans can quite literally manipulate living being and the environment. Something once thought to be impossible. Humans are now playing god.
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