It’s amazing to think that with one snip of a gene, scientists could change the color of someone’s eyes. Or alter the makeup of a cow so it wouldn’t grow horns, or wipe out malaria-carrying mosquitoes. They could correct genetic defects long before birth and make it so that no one would ever have to suffer from a disease like cystic fibrosis.
They could. That doesn’t mean they will. Or at least, not yet.
The process, of course, is much more complicated than just snipping out a gene. But it is a lot easier since scientists came up with a gene-editing system called CRISPR, pronounced crisper. In the most basic of terms, researchers can take out a bad gene and replace it with a good gene. It can be done on animals, on plants, and yes, on humans.
CRISPR experiments had only been done inside a lab — until recently, when a Chinese scientist announced he had used the technology to eliminate a set of twins’ chances of contracting HIV. The embryos were altered before being implanted in their mother, who apparently gave birth to twins Nana and Lulu in November.
The announcement rattled the scientific world, where the scientist was accused of ignoring ethical and scientific protocols and is now being investigated for possibly breaking the law. Many scientists say CRISPR isn’t safe enough yet to be used in human embryos. But the move accomplished one thing: It got people talking about gene editing more than ever before.
Dr. Mazhar Adli is a geneticist at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, where his lab is using and developing CRISPR-based technologies. As gene editing moves forward, he says, everyone has to tread carefully.
“There are ethical parts that we as scientists can’t decide,” Adli told the Health Journal for our story this month on gene editing. “We need more effective ways to involve public in the discussion on CRISPR and to come up with the plan on how to move forward.”
When it comes to thinking about designer babies, one can’t help thinking about the eugenics movement, which aimed to improve the genetic quality of humans by choosing who got to breed. What’s terrifying is that it happened right here in the United States — the U.S. was even the first country to have a program for performing sterilizations on people without their knowledge or against their will. Between 1927 and the 1970s, there were more than 60,000 compulsory sterilizations performed in 33 states.
The U.S. eventually came to its senses, particularly after Adolf Hitler started espousing the practices, and eugenics was largely condemned after World War II and the Holocaust. Safeguards, programs and commissions were established to ensure that ethical implications of new technologies would be discussed before being adapted.
Many people do fear that the new advances in genetics could lead to a new era of eugenics, particularly when it comes to reproductive technologies. There’s no question CRISPR is a powerful tool and has a whole range of possibilities, from helping improve crops to curing disease. But could clinics start popping up that claim to “CRISPR” babies to the liking of expectant parents? How far should gene editing go?
It’s an exciting time for science, and the discussions ahead are sure to be fascinating. Stay tuned.