He Jiankui shocked the world of genetics

He Jiankui shocked the world of genetics

Yes, I am very late to this party. The article I am writing about was published in Time on November 29th,

2018, a whole year ago. However, I was very shocked by the article, and thought it was worthy to share.

He Jiankui, a professor at the Southern University of Science and Technology, used CRISPR on embryos

against all ethical standards. The babies produced from the treat go by Lulu and Nana, and were intended

to be treated with CRISPR to disable a gene that helps HIV enter healthy cells. I think the most shocking

thing is that is performed the technique behind everyones back, against strict advice. Many problems

could arise from using CRISPR on human embryos, but He definitely has the guts to try. The only thing

left to do now is sit back and watch. The twins will forever be the focal point of every genetic

advancement from here on out. I am very interested to see what results occur.

https://time.com/5466967/crispr-twins-lives/

Related article:

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/08/did-crispr-help-or-harm-first-ever-gene-edited-babies

Third CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Edited Baby to be Born in China This Year

CRISPR-Cas9 is powerful gene editing tool that geneticist and medical researchers can use to edit portions of DNA in an organisms genome by adding, removing, or altering it. In the face of such a powerful discovery, the Second International Summit on Human Gene Editing was held in Hong Kong last November to discuss the pros and cons of technology like CRISPR-Cas9. While going over the clinical implications, ethics, and legal considerations of possibly creating genetically engineered humans, the entire summit was turned on its head when He Jiankui, a Chinese biophysicist, confessed that he had already done it.

He Jiankui the year prior had edited the genome of twin girls, who have already been born. To further the shock, at the time of his announcement a second Chinese woman was pregnant with another CRISPR baby. This fact was proven by an early pregnancy test, which brings the world total to three genetically modified humans that are known of. The child has already been born but the date will not be released due to risk of exposing the identity of the parents and child.

He Jiankui and his team used CRISPR to alter a gene called CCR5 in an attempt to make the girls immune to ever getting HIV. The scientific community was widely split upon finding out this discovery. Some condemned him for doing such a pointless procedure with such high risk, but others don't know what to feel. For better or worse, in science there is a notion of "all that ends well is well" and as of now He Jiankui claims that is experiment led to "two beautiful Chinese girls."

This immense overstep in the scientific community forces us as a human population to come to terms with the fact that for the first time in out existence, we can shape our evolution. We have the ability to cure diseases like sickle cell and HIV, but where does the line stop? CRISPR-Cas9 technology is relatively easy to use so what is stopping scientists from starting to modify hair color? eye color? Will we allow Designer Babies? Is it even ethically responsible to allow parents to make these life altering decisions on a human that isn't themselves? This is only scratching the surface of the many questions we have left to answer.




I think that Aldous Huxley warned us best when he wrote in his novel Brave New World:
"All right then," said the savage defiantly, "I'm claiming the right to be unhappy."
"Not to mention the right to grow old and ugly and impotent; the right to have syphilis and cancer; the right to have too little to eat, the right to be lousy; the right to live in constant apprehension of what may happen tomorrow; the right to catch typhoid; the right to be tortured by unspeakable pains of every kind."
There was a long silence.
"I claim them all," said the Savage at last.

lions, and tigers and gene-edited babies... oh my!

According to Science Magazine, there is currently a debate going on internationally about whether or not a global moratorium should be put in place to ban gene editing on sperm, eggs and embryos. Ideally scientists want to use germline editing to correct heritable diseases and therefore have gene-altered babies. In theory this sounds like a wonderful idea by correcting diseases such as Tay Sachs. However,  He Jiankui wants to genetically alter babies for other reasons. Late last year he announced that he used CRISPR to genetically alter babies in order for them to be resistant to AIDS virus, which is not a heritable disease. This sparked controversy around the world in regards to ethics and what genes should and should not be altered.

Some scientists feel there shouldn't be a moratorium since some countries already have some sort of this ban already in place while others feel it needs to be recognized worldwide. Other scientists also feel there should be some sort of framework implemented in regards to gene editing human babies. It's really hard to say if there should or shouldn't be germline editing in humans. On one hand it could benefit people with heritable diseases and can lessen the burden on families. On the other hand, it can be like going to the candy store and picking out your favorite candies but instead it will be your "perfect" child and it can come with other side affects too down the road that we just don't know about yet. 

China Halts Work by Scientist Who Says He Edited Babies' Genes

         A scientist by the name of He Jiankui and his team are currently being investigated by authorities after revealing his gene editing experiments done on human babies. Genetic testing on human embryos is very much guarded, which is why it is such a huge deal. Gene editing is a very sensitive topic to a lot of people, including scientists, because it is seen as morally wrong as well as inhumane. A lot of genes are interconnected in some way, meaning one change in the genetic code of a human could change a lot of things, some good, some wouldn't matter too much, but a lot of them could cause extremely detrimental defects to the baby which is why it is such a serious experiment.
          In Dr. He's experiment he used crisprs in order to alter the embryos of two twin girls who were born last month. Crisprs are derived from the bacteria cell which have the ability to adopt the DNA of a virus or another outside DNA sequence. When the virus returns, the bacteria would be able to fight off the virus by producing segments of RNA which will attack the DNA of the newly introduced virus. The bacteria then use an enzyme (usually CAS9) in order to cut up the DNA, which would kill the virus. Dr. He would use the same procedure except that the virus would be replaced with human DNA from an embryo.

           Using the crispr would give Dr. He the ability to edit the genome of the embryo in order to genetically enhance the children with a particular gene that makes a human less likely to contract the disease, HIV.
          The reason I chose this article to review is because I think it is a major development in science that should and needs to be talked about. This one experiment has changed the way that we look at Genetic Science completely. Genetic editing has been referred and referenced in the human species before, but has never been used. Although it may be considered inhumane by some, it is a great leap in the world of science and how we have the ability to look at things now. Diseases may now be attacked genetically from the inside of the body like we never have been able to before. It is exciting, as well as very dangerous but we will have to see what the future holds.

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