CRISPR - Modified Life

CRISPR - Genetic Engineering, at a price

Dettmer, Phillip. “CRISPR.” Kurzgesagt, in a Nutshell, kurzgesagt.org/work/crispr/.

     Imagine that you could make a baby that is immune to disease, cancer and birth defects, grow grows that need no insecticides as they make their own defenses, or be used as a deathly bio weapon. This, is CRISPR, Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats. A mouthful, but it could revolutionize life itself.

     Bacteria and viruses are mortal enemies. Viruses charge into large group of bacteria and slaughter them until only a few bacteria are left, but those few learn a weakness that their immune system can use against the viruses and effectively kill them. This is CRISPR. A set of repeating DNA within the bacteria that, whenever it survives an attack, will take a copy of the Viruses RNA/DNA and puts it between the repeating slots. Then whenever that virus attacks again the bacteria can locate the copy of the viruses RNA/DNA and tell a special protein called Cas9 to snip and replace that part of the virus, killing it quickly. Scientists can use this technique to trick the bacteria into cutting out whatever DNA/RNA they want, and then replace it. 

     CRISPR was originally found by accident by a woman of the name Yoshizumi Ishino in 1987 and is now being developed in many places around the world including the University of California, University of Vienna, MilliporeSigma, ToolGen, Vilnius University, Harvard University of California and Broad.

Because of the ability to rip and replace genes CRISPR can be used for a variety of purposes however not all may be good. The technology could also be used to create "designer babies" or unstoppable bio-weapons. Designer babies are babies that have altered attributes because of genetic modification. It could be something as subtle as eye color or as drastic as enhanced intelligence, bodily strength, or extra limbs. As for bio-weapons one could feasibly load a large amount of bacteria with the intent to cut the gene responsible for mitosis of cells causing whoever to breath in the bacteria to very quickly develop cancer or tumors.

In 2015 a group of scientists conducted a test with CRISPR on live, HIV infected subjects. Using CRISPR, the patient’s cells were stripped of the HIV virus, proving its potential. Scientists in China have approved a technique using CRISPR on lung cancer patients whose other treatments have failed. The test was done in November of 2017 and had successes on a large number of the patients.

I believe this invention to be akin to the printing press in how it will adversely effect the social and technological aspects of modern day life. Such as the printing press increased the intelligence via cheap books and news CRISPR may increase intelligence for newborn babies via genetic modification. Not to mention how it would create a new social class of genetically engineered humans. This is like how the printing press made a new class of educated peasants.


     All in all, CRISPR is still in development and experiments are underway. But when the tech becomes available to the public there are going to be many societal and economical changes throughout the world. Although undoubtedly it will be used for harm as well.