A Thought Surrounding Gene Editing To Ponder On...

 

Photo: Animated biology with Arpan

Gene-editing technology is in the early stages of use in society.  Part of that is due to ethical concerns -- a large part.  Where do we go with the technology from here?  Where is here?  Consider the fact that the CRISPR-Cas9, which stands for "Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats - CRISPR associated protein 9," is currently used in the war against the COVID-19 virus.

In an article from The New York Times, the new technology is discussed with a small amount of a backstory to bring the reader up to the present use -- to battle the COVID-19 virus.  Specifically discovering new variants of the virus.  Although, a paragraph of interest looking into the future is shown below:

To many, the most familiar faces of this technology are clinical testing companies, which use sequencing machines to read portions of our genetic code (known as “panels” or “exomes”) to investigate a few crucial genes, like those linked to a higher risk of breast cancer. But more profound promises of genome sequencing have been accumulating stealthily in recent years, in fields from personal health to cultural anthropology to environmental monitoring. Crispr, a technology reliant on sequencing, gives scientists the potential to repair disease-causing mutations in our genomes. “Liquid biopsies,” in which a small amount of blood is analyzed for DNA markers, offer the prospect of cancer diagnoses long before symptoms appear. The Harvard geneticist George Church told me that one day sensors might “sip the air” so that a genomic app on our phones can tell us if there’s a pathogen lurking in a room. Sequencing might even make it possible to store any kind of data we might want in DNA — such an archival system would, in theory, be so efficient and dense as to be able to hold the entire contents of the internet in a pillowcase.

The possibilities mentioned in the excerpt above are promising to me personally.  Recently, my mother had the terrible news of a cancer diagnosis.  Before receiving the COVID-19 vaccination (from Moderna), she did not experience any particular symptoms.  After receiving the vaccination, she was feeling fine for about a week.

Then the illness started to increase over the course of two-three weeks.  She finally admitted herself to the hospital.  Just to be clear, the COVID-19 vaccination did not cause her cancer.  Although, the COVID-19 vaccination might have signaled the fact that she had a growth on her Pancreas. 

She is currently starting treatment immediately.  Thank goodness.

Returning to the paragraph above and the promising technology associated with gene-editing technology.  I show the above excerpt to start a conversation and thought process.  Think about the benefits and risks to society moving forward.  Furthermore, how will technology change the practice of medicine?  How has fighting the COVID-19 virus changed modern medicine?

The ability to detect cancer at an earlier stage is just one of many benefits that CRISPR-Cas9 technology brings to the table.  Some concerns will be addressed in future posts, along with benefits too.  

But the overall question is:  Do the benefits to society outweigh the risks?

Stay tuned!