Your hear that? It’s the sound of the future knocking on the door!
The MIT Technology Review reports about the first-known experiment to edit human embryos in the United States using a gene-editing tool called CRISPR.
The landmark experiment, led by the Oregon Health and Science University, involved changing the DNA of a large number of one-cell embryos. China has previously reported their own studies using CRISPR.
While this effort has tremendous scientific implications – and opens up another chapter of ethical debate regarding genetic modifications to embryos – this also spells out some promising overtures for treating severable disease; many that are currently labeled uncurable.
This gene-editing tool CRISPR (Clustered, Regularly Interspaced, Short Palindromic Repeats) has repeatedly shown evidence of editing away and treating diseases. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine went as far as to publish a report on human genome editing, addressing potential applications of gene editing and the possible prevention and treatment of many diseases.
Scientists have already seen promising advances is finding treatment or preventive measures for cystic fibrosis, sickle cell, hemophilia, mitochondrial diseases, and more using CRISPR.
While none of the embryos were allowed to develop for more than a few days, nor were they intended to be implanted into a womb—the experiments signal a significant touchstone in the science of genetic modifications.
While the science is still in progress and there is no shortage of critics – this gene modification breakthrough does spell good fortunes for at the very least the future of understanding previously misunderstood or under-researched disease – and most importantly, developing treatments and preventative measures.
