Tinkering with the Genome
Imagine being able to detect and edit flaws in the genetic constitution of a person as effectively as a spell checker works when spotting misspelled words in a document. Sounds like something right out of a Dan Brown fiction plot, right? Well, it’s no more a mere figment of imagination, but rather a reality.
In 2012, a group of geneticists at the University of California, Berkeley devised a method through which specific genes can be sought out and edited. The method is formally known as CRISPR, and no, it does not involve potato chips as one may assume.
The term stands for “clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats” and is based on a naturally occurring system which takes place inside certain species bacteria and serves as a defence mechanism against invasion by viruses. It involves a special protein called Cas9, able to cut DNA, attached to a strand of RNA which is complementary to the target region of DNA and serves as the guide to lead the protein to the sought after segment within which specific genes can be deleted as well as inserted. It has been seen not only this protein works on viral DNA, but on all DNA, including those inside living cells and too with exceptional precision.
The concept is intriguing yet alarming at the same time, with the potential to revolutionise not only the field of biomedical sciences, but as well as life as we know it. For instance, researchers in London have implemented this technique in order to produce genetically modified female Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes so that they are infertile. Now, this can lead to the eradication of their species as it inactivates egg production. Since the mosquitoes are responsible for spreading malaria, this may as well serve as an effective method for getting rid of the disease.
The whole process is as simple as cut and paste, so much that an endowed 10th grader can carry it out. However, the bigger picture isn’t as simple, eradication of the Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes will lead to survival struggles for the species dependent on it such as bats, and this in turn can trigger a chain reaction and have unintentional grim ecological consequences.
Regardless, there are certain areas where the prospects of CRISPR appear to be extraordinary, particularly in the case of treating genetic diseases such as Tay-Sachs disease and in case of degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and cancer. In a recent research it has been seen the power of CRISPR can be further harnessed to remove the HIV genome from infected cells, and can lead to a victory for humans in the evolutionary race against one of most fatal diseases known to mankind.
Undoubtedly the list of implications is endless for CRISPR and the technology is still in its very early days. It certainly will be a stimulating journey to see where it takes the humankind along it as it develops further, and how humanity chooses to face the ethical and social questions raised along the way.
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