CRISPR and the Promise of Gene Editing (Part 2)

Welcome back to our discussion of CRISPR! Before, we went through an introduction to CRISPR. Now, I'll discuss some applications, including its potential in medical treatment to save lives. A particular application of CRISPR could be in transplantation. Transplantation is the process where a donor's organ or tissue is surgically removed and transplanted into a recipient. The donor is often deceased with their brain dead; therefore, they still have healthy organs and tissues that can be transplanted to people with failing organs or tissues. A living person may also choose to donate if they don't need the organ.

The problem is that there is a high demand for donor organs that the current supply can't meet, so many people have to wait, and sadly, many also die during this waiting period. Since the ambitious and successful Human Genome Project and the recent development of CRISPR as an effective genetic editing tool, using CRISPR technology in transplantation has been discussed and studied. One area of study has been around combining stem cells with CRISPR gene editing. Scientists have tried using CRISPR to edit allogeneic stem cells into universal stem cells, and they could use this in future projects of organ development because of its ability to evade immune rejection, which is when the immune system attacks transplanted organs or tissues because of its perception of the transplantation as a foreign invader. The principle is similar to having an allergic reaction (which I wouldn't know about). Overall, inducing immune tolerance is a focus of CRISPR technology. However, currently an organ can't be developed on a dish using this stem cell and CRISPR technology.

Some other alternative options are xenotransplantation and 3D bioprinting, which can be done utilizing CRISPR technology. They both sound ambitious: xenotransplantation is transplantation across species, which leads to concerns that viruses and other infectious agents will be transmitted across species; 3D bioprinting is similar to 3D printing, except 3D bioprinting uses bioinks, which are made of biomaterial and living cells. Following the progression of 3D bioprinting technology in the future would be really cool, I think. Hopefully, these methods can be used eventually to help meet the demand for transplants.

Like expected, there are ethical and safety concerns related to the possible applications of genome editing. We must be very careful when touching things on the genetic level. In 2018, a team of scientists in Shenzhen, China, led by He Jiankui, genetically edited embryos created from their parents' sperm and eggs to make them resistant to HIV, which their dad had. The mom gave birth to a pair of healthy twin girls. Immediately after news of this came out, there was a lot of controversy, and He was put under investigation for possibly breaking ethics laws. He defended the gene editing as safe and successful so far. Jennifer Doudna, who helped discover CRISPR, criticized it as "a break from the cautious and transparent approach of the global scientific community's application of CRISPR-Cas9 for human germline editing" and unnecessary because "there are alternative ways to prevent infection that are already effective." The general consensus among scientists was that the experiment was done too soon, as CRISPR was still a new technology. In the end, He Jiankui was sentenced to several years in jail and given a big fine.

Imagine a future where CRISPR advances to the point where we use it to cut out all unwanted genes? This is surely not the same as using CRISPR to cure diseases. Thinking of CRISPR as a way to "perfect" humans is dangerous; it would enable people to label each other as biologically superior or inferior. It could support a subtler form of eugenics, which originated in the late 19th century. It sought to improve the gene quality of a human population, and, while initially accepted, is now closely associated with scientific racism. As the Spiderman quote "with great power comes great responsibility" says, CRISPR must be approached carefully.

So, hopefully you learned some valuable and relevant knowledge about CRISPR. It's quite an interesting topic of discussion that many people, and not only scientists, are engaging in today. Thank you so much for reading and feel free to comment down below! Have a good one!