CRISPR

Imagine, curing a fatal disease before birth. In an article form Science Daily a research shows that the gene editing tool CRISPR is helping make this possible. Using an animal model, a team at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has managed to out play a lethal lung disease which causes death hours after birth. The team is hoping to solve congenital diseases like cystic fibrosis. Using precisely timed in utero delivery of the CRISPR reagents into the amniotic fluid during the fetal development they were able to target changes in the lungs of mice. They introduced the gene editors four days before birth, which would be the third trimester for humans. In a second experiment they were able to reduce the severity of a lung disease known as surfactant protein C deficiency or SFTPC, which has a common disease causing mutation in the human SFTPC gene. 100% of the untreated mice died of respiratory failure within hours of birth. However, the treated mice showed a 22% survival rate. When I think of genetics the progress we’ve made is barely scratching the surface of the possibilities that lie ahead. Imagine a world where we don’t have to fear for the health of our unborn children. Through genetics, a disease free world doesn’t seem like such a far fetched idea.

First human embryos are edited in the US in a controversial step towards creating 'designer babies'

A controversial technique that lets scientists 'edit' genes in a human embryo has been successfully used for the first time in the U.S. CRISPR which stands for Clustered Regularly Inter-spaced Palindromic Repeats is a cut and paste gene editing technique for making precise edits in DNA. CRISPR works by trimming the unwanted parts of a genome and replacing them with new DNA. This technique means diseases such as cancer, HIV, and other genetic diseases can be treated and even better genetic defects can be corrected in the embryonic development of a baby. Researches from the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) in Portland carried out the study according to MIT's technology review. So far, three previous reports of editing human embryos were all published by scientists in China. But this experiment is believed to have broken new ground because the embryos are allowed to develop for more than just a few days. Results of the peer-reviewed study are expected to be published soon in a scientific journal, according to OHSU spokesman Eric Robinson. CRISPR however is highly controversial facing oppositions from religious, civil society and biotech groups.

Human Gene Editing Supported by Science Panel

Human Gene Editing Receives Science Panel's Support

Just like any field of study, genetics entails some pretty controversial topics. One of the most debatable advances in genetics research is the idea of physically modifying human embryos in order to create genetic traits that can be passed down to future offspring. For many years it has been difficult to define the ethical background of this technique. It is widely feared that this technology could and would be used to enhance intelligence or to create physical specimens to eventually serve as soldiers. This article reports that an advisory group of scientists has endorsed gene editing in order to alter/prevent babies from acquiring genes that cause serious disease when there is no other alternative intervention. Human germ line engineering, as this technique is called, will allow parents to have biological children without passing on the genes for Huntington’s or Tay-Sachs disease, for example.

            I found this article to be really relevant and interesting. To be able to alter genetic traits in human embryos is an incredible advancement that should be used, but only for the right reasons. As incredible as technology is becoming, who knows what catastrophes could result from putting this type of power into the wrong hands. This topic should not be taken lightly and should abide by a strict set of ethical laws. Personally, I think any advancement is a good advancement. A few years ago, this would have never even been thought to be possible. Now, according to this article, “the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine has lent its support for this once-unthinkable proposition”.

A related article says that China will develop the first genetically enhanced super-humans using the same germ line engineering technology. 

Ethics and Embryos

In terms of ethics, studies involving human subjects are constantly questioned. Many people fear the consequences of "designer babies" or unpredictable outcomes of altering DNA in such a complex organism at crucial stages, while others argue the benefits of eliminating dangerous heritable diseases. While the debate of ethics continues in America continues today, April 2016, scientists in China have moved past talking, and into testing the possible benefits of gene editing in human embryos. Nearly a year ago, April 2015, Protein and Cell published a controversial article about a Chinese study led by Junjiu Huang on genetic modification of human embryos. In this study, embryos were injected with an enzyme complex known as CISPR/Cas9, a tool that binds and splices DNA at specific locations. With this technique Huang and his colleagues attempted to edit the HBB gene, which may mutate to cause beta thalassemia. Unfortunately, their experiments was considered unsuccessful for many reasons. Firstly, 71 out of the original 86 embryos survived the first 48 hours after injection. Of the 71 surviving embryos, most were tested and a mere 28 had been successfully spliced. The experiment was halted with such a low success rate, and unexpectedly numerous additional mutations.

 An article published in Nature's news section noted that Huang's study was rejected for publications by both Nature and Science magazines due to the great question of ethics. Throughout the articles I have found, I am definitely curious about the ethics of this study too. While the experiment is clear, I have many questions about the before and after details of the study, as I imagine that many people within this ethical debate do. In the Nature article, there were multiple times in which the use of "abnormal" embryos and avoidance of "normal" embryos in these types of studies were mentions. What makes the embryo normal or abnormal?  Where do the embryos come from and what happens to them after the study? While I think that genetic modifications of human embryos could be an important technique to eliminating genetically coded issues such as diseases, it is a very difficult and risky task due to the numerous issues of ethics brought to light within this research. 

Editing Genes of Human Embryos

Here is an interesting article about the technique of editing genes on human embryos.
If this technique is performed successfully, it will a big breakthrough in the medical field.

  The medical field has benefit in many ways with the help of modern technology. Technology has helped to invent new medical treatments, understand certain disease more closely and manipulate genes to prevent harm. A new genetic editing technique has been invented which is known as Crispr or Crispr-Cas9. This is a technique that lets researchers alter the DNA and the hereditary material. It works like a cut and paste operation. With the help of this technique, researchers will be able to take things out and make replacements. The Crispr technique has the potential to change human eggs, sperm and early embryos. Also, these alterations would be inherited by the patient’s children. This will be very beneficial for preventing certain disease from getting passed on to the next generation. If the Crispr technique is performed successfully, it will create a breakthrough to prevent the inheritance of deadly diseases. A British researcher known as Dr. Niakan has recently received permission to use the Crispr technique on human embryo. her goal is to understand the force of genetic alterations that are thrown as the fertilized egg progresses through its first few divisions. Her experiment will help to better understand the basic biology of development.