Genome Editing Technology
Humankind’s desire to enhance itself
One of the talks at the HPAIR conference last year was about a technology called CRISPR. It involves snipping off troublesome/undesirable genes and occasionally replacing them with beneficial ones. CRISPR has multiple functions; one of them is that it can be used to treat diseases.
What’s controversial about this technology is its ability to eradicate what medical science determines as faulty or abnormal genes from the gene pool. Intrigued by this technology, I decided to look into it.
The idea of creating a perfect human has existed since our civilization began. People have been trying to enhance themselves for centuries, sometimes successfully but sometimes with inconclusive and even tragic results.
In the first few chapters of Genesis, the Hebrew Bible describes a successful incident of human enhancement. Adam and Eve, the first humans, ate from the tree of knowledge so that they could become “like God”.
Of course, while Adam and Eve gained a new awareness and self-understanding, they also got expelled from paradise and entered a world of pain, shame and toil. This theme of hidden dangers that lurk in something that looks “good” is present in various literary narratives. Take Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” for example; a scientist creates a new man, only to ultimately die while attempting to destroy what he had created.
While scientists debate whether it is valid to fear human enhancement, science has already started exploring it. Recent scientific developments in biotechnology, information technology, and nanotechnology place us on what may be the cusp of an enhancement revolution. In the next few decades, people may be able to change themselves and their children in ways that only existed in science fiction.
In November of 2018, a Chinese scientist He Jiankui created three babies through the process of CRISPR, defying the international moratorium on genetically editing human embryos intended for pregnancy. While the state government confirmed his announcement, his work has not been published in a scientific journal, and his data has not been peer-reviewed. Researchers who viewed the information that was made available have claimed it’s too sparse to understand what the research team did and whether it worked the way it was supposed to.
The gene-editing occurred during the IVF process where the sperm was “cleaned” to separate it from semen, the fluid where HIV sometimes exists. Then the sperm was placed into a single egg to create an embryo wherein the gene-editing tool was added. A few cells were removed from the embryo within a week and further edited. Eleven of the edited embryos were used in six implant attempts, and He achieved the twin pregnancy.
Tests performed after the announcement indicate that one twin had both copies of the intended gene altered while the other had only one altered. People with one copy of the gene can still get HIV, although research suggests the disease’s severity might be subdued.
A somewhat successor to this is Conception, a startup based in California. The company is focused on what’s called in vitro gametogenesis, which refers to turning adult cells into gametes. The process would allow any human cell to be turned into a sperm/egg cell. This would enable same-sex couples and sterile ones to have their children. Such a laboratory process would also allow genetic editing with DNA engineering mechanisms such as CRISPR. The company anticipates that artificial eggs could allow “wide-scale genomic selection and editing in embryos.”
The technology has already been proven on mice, and the company’s currently working on translating this to humans to make it a safe and accessible reproductive treatment. The company claims to be proceeding by working with regulatory and ethical experts to ensure this technology develops responsibly.
This is prudent since the most significant concern associated with such a process is that it would have unintended consequences and endanger human health. Several studies have proven that using CRISPR to edit the human genome could cause cancer.
It is evident that gene editing could be beneficial for our society, helping us develop new treatments and bring an end to some rare genetic disorders. However, there are still widespread concerns about the risks to human health the unintended consequences. The fact remains that we haven’t learned enough about the technology to wield it in the right way, and as such, we need to proceed with caution, especially when it comes to human testing.
