CRISPR technology has been the newest technology in the science world that will continue to move forward. But it is still not ready to create “designer babies” yet. Although it was recently used to create the COVID vaccine, CRISPR-Cas9 more specifically is reportedly still not ready for use, also from an ethical standpoint as well. One reason is still due to the unknown long-term effects it can have. Studies have shown that there have been still some unwanted changes occurring, even with how accurate the technology is.
Still remembering back to the illegal experiments performed by Chinese biophysicist
in 2018, He Jiankui, carried out when editing and allowing the birth of twin
girls for resistance to HIV infection. HIV would enter through a protein, and
Jiankui disabled this protein by editing & disabling CCR5. Many scientists
disagreed with this approach and one main reason is due to the fact that is not the
only way HIV can enter a cell. CRISPR-Cas9 still has a lot to prove in terms of
precisely editing without causing other adverse effects as well as ethically
being allowed by nations. But I also believe it will be the future of
technology and hopefully help eradicate the genetic variations & diseases
that cause distress to so many families.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02538-4
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07545-0
Alexandra,
ReplyDeleteI too believe that that designer babies will be the future of technology! Though, I do hope that they find a way to make sure that there are no unwanted long term effects done to the baby. Personally, I could never go through with making a designer baby, but I know many families will be grateful for a chance to eradicate genetic diseases from their children.