Gene Editing, Ethically Correct?

Gene Editing

By: Arielle Johnson 

What is it?

 Gene editing is the ability to remove or alter an individual’s genome to modify or enhance certain characteristics. 

Gene editing is a major controversial topic in the field of science today.

There are two main types; Germline gene editing and somatic gene editing.

Germline Gene editing	Somatic Gene editing
Germline gene editing is changing or editing genes that are passed on to children. Essentially this will produce genetically modified children known as “designer babies”	Somatic gene editing is also known as gene therapy and it is designed to help people who are sick with genetic illnesses.

https://www.geneticsandsociety.org/internal-content/about-human-germline-gene-editing

The term “designer babies” has gone viral due to the possibility of being able to edit your baby’s genes. However, it has also caused a lot of controversy.

Gene editing is possible due to a new tool known as CRISPR-Cas9.

CRISPR Cas9

CRISPR: stands for (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)

CRISPR is a gene editing system that is naturally found in bacteria. CRISPR uses the Cas9 enzyme which is a naturally occurring protein in the human body. The Cas9 enzyme is used to cut the DNA at a targeted location. CRISPR is able to identify different parts of the DNA and find the specific piece of strand it is designed to cut out.

https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/primer/genomicresearch/genomeediting

The Process:

CRISPR uses the Cas9 enzyme which is a naturally occurring protein and guide RNA. The cas9 enzyme is used for cutting the target DNA.

1. The guide RNA (gRNA) is used to bind to the Cas9 enzyme 
2. The Cas9 enzyme will locate the targeted DNA based on the sequence of gRNA
3. The Cas9 enzyme is used to cut the DNA at the targeted location. 
4. After the Cas9 enzyme precisely cuts the DNA the natural occurring DNA repair process happens to repair the strand.

https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/primer/genomicresearch/genomeediting

http://www.crisprtx.com/gene-editing/crispr-cas9

Pros: 

There is a possibility that you could edit out genes that cause illnesses or disabilities. Scientists are currently researching what diseases this could be beneficial to prevent. They think that single-gene disorders would benefit the most such as cystic fibrosis, hemophilia, and sickle cell disease. Scientists are also trying to research its benefit of treating and preventing disease like cancer and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Cons: 

There is not enough research that determines what genes and more specifically what segment of genes cause certain disabilities. This is due to the fact that every human’s individual gene makeup is different. Also, some genes are responsible for multiple functions. So, if you were to cut out a certain gene for prevention of a specific disease it could also cause more harm because that gene plays an important role in the body.

https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/primer/genomicresearch/genomeediting

http://www.crisprtx.com/gene-editing/crispr-cas9

Ethical Concerns:

• Germline cell and embryo genome editing are currently illegal in many countries.

• Editing the cells in the embryo is causing a lot of controversy because it is possible to use CRISPR to edit characteristics such as height and intelligence. This is bad because gene editing is a very expensive process. If this becomes legalized in America it will not be easily assessable for all groups of people. That could lead to unfair cognitive and physical advantages. For example: in school a child who is not genetically modified could be in the same class as genetically modified child. 

Current Events

Last year a Chinese scientist He Jiankui was the first ever scientist to make gene edited babies. However, he did this in secret which caused him a lot of negative backlash. He announced the birth of his gene-edited twins called Lula and Nana in a video in November 2018. Globally scientists were not happy that he did this because of the lack of research about CRISPR and its accuracy. He is currently serving jail time for three years in China for his work. No photos or information has been released about the health of the gene edited twins.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-50944461

Is Gene editing ethically correct? That is for you to decide.