DNA Genetic Modification: Crispr

Ever wonder how genetic modification can change our lives. A recent breakthrough, that can change how we live and what we perceive as normal, forever. Starting back in 1960s, scientist tampered plants with radiation to cause random mutation in the genetic code. The idea was to get useful plant variation by pure chance, it would sometimes work too. In the 70s, scientist inserted DNA snippets into bacteria, plants, and animals. To study and modify them for research, medicine, agriculture and just for fun. 

The earliest genetically modified animal was born in 1974 making mice and standard for research, saving millions of lives. In the 80s, we got commercial the first patent was given for microbe engineered to adsorb oil. Today we produce many chemicals by means of engineered life, like lifesaving, clotting factors, growth hormones, and insulin. In the 1990s, there was also a brief into human engineering to treat maternal infertility, babies were made that carried genetic information from 3 humans making them the first humans ever to have 3 genetic parents. Today there are super muscled pigs, fast growing salmon, featherless chicken, and see-though frogs. Gene editing was already impressive, but until recently it was getting expensive complicated, and took a long time to do. This has now changed with revolutionary new technology now entering the stage CRISPR. Overnight, the cost of engineering has shrunk by 99% instead of a year, it takes a few weeks to conduct experiments and basically everybody with a lab can do it. CRISPR literally has the potential to change humanity forever. You may be wondering why suddenly revolution happen and how does it work? Bacteria and viruses have been fighting since the dawn of life. So-called bacteriophages or phages hunt bacteria. Bacteria can sometimes survive on attack only if they do so they can activate their most effective antivirus system they save a part of the virus DNA in their own genetic code DNA archive called CRISPR. Which is stored safely when needed. CRISPR works by giving a copy of DNA you want to modify and put in the system into a living cell. Aside from being precise, cheap, and easy, CRISPR offers the ability to edit live cells, to switch genes on and off, and target and study DNA sequence. This would also work with microorganisms, plants, animals or humans. In 2015, scientist use CRISPR to cut the HIV virus out of living cells from patients in the lab, proving that it was possible. Only about a year later, they carried out a larger scale project with rats that had the HIV virus in basically all their body cells. By simply injecting CRISPR into the rat's tails, they were able to remove more than 50% of the virus from cells all over the body. In a few decades, a CRISPR therapy might cure HIV and other retroviruses, viruses that hide in human DNA like herpes could be eradicated this way. CRISPR could also defeat one of our worst enemies – cancer. CRISPR gives us the means to edit your immune cells and make them better cancer hunters. 

The first clinical trial for a CRISPR cancer treatment on human patients was approved in early 2016 in the US. And then there are genetic diseases. There are thousands of them, and they range from mildly annoying to deadly or decades of suffering for example color blindness, hemophilia, and huntingtins disease. With a powerful tool like CRISPR, we may be able to end this. Over 3,000 genetic disease are caused by a single incorrect letter in your DNA. They are already building a modified version of CAS9 that is made to change just a single letter, fixing the disease in the cell. In a decade or two, we could possibly cure thousands of diseases forever. CRISPR can be used for much more, the creation of modified humans – designer babies. The means to edit the genome of human embryo already exists through the technology is still in its early stages, but it has already been attempted twice. In 2015 and 2016, Chinese scientist experimented with human embryo and were partially successful on their second attempt. Modified humans could alter the genome of our entire species, because their engineered traits will be passed on their children. 

There is so many ways you edit the genes for example to makes your offspring immune to Alzheimer, why not also give them an enhanced metabolism? Why not throw in perfect eyesight. How about height or full hair? Or maybe giving your child the gift of extraordinary intelligence? We could also solve the single biggest mortality risk factor: aging two – thirds of the 150,000 people who die today die of age- related cause. There are also genes that directly affect aging. A combination of genetic engineering and other therapy could stop or slow down aging, maybe even reverse it. As powerful as CRISPR is – and it is, it's not infallible yet. Only by participating can we make sure that further research is guided by caution research, oversight, and transparency. 

In conclusion, the technology is certainly a bit scary, but we have a lot gain, and genetic engineering might be a step-in natural evolution of intelligent species in the universe. Whatever your opinion on genetic engineering, the future is approaching no matter what.