CRISPR - The Genetic Engineering Revolution

CRISPRseems poised to revolutionize the way we study and treat a whole range of genetic diseases. It also will have profound impact on genetic engineering of agricultural crops and animals, and on the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. And the fact that it could allow us to make permanent changes in the human genome means we might influence human evolution itself.

The power and potential ofCRISPRmeans it raises as many ethical issues as scientific ones, as society will have to deal with new questions about whether we're wise enough to use the power over the genome thatCRISPRprovides.

Quirks & Quarks Producer JimLebanslooked into the issues aroundCRISPRand spoke with:

• Dr. Elizabeth Simpson, a Professor of Medical Genetics and Senior Scientist at the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics at the University of British Columbia. She's begun usingCRISPRin her work onaniridia, a genetic eye disease.
  
• Dr. RonaldCohn, Chief of the Division of Clinical and Medical Genetics, and co-Director of the Centre for Genetic Medicine at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. He's just published on his first successful cell-based experiments in usingCRISPRto correct a genetic mutation that causes Muscular Dystrophy.
  
• Dr.SylvainMoineau, Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology andBioinformaticsat the University of Laval. He was part of a team that discovered the natural role ofCRISPRas a microbial defence against viruses.
  
• Dr.FengZhang, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and core member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Dr.Zhangis one of the key innovators who transformed the naturalCRISPRsystem into a gene editing tool.
  
• Dr. UdoSchklenk, Professor and Ontario Research Chair inBioethicsin the Department of Philosophy at Queen's University. He has engaged with questions around the ethics of usingCRISPRto alter the human genome, and, more widely, its use in the agricultural and natural world.

Related Links

-Science Magazine article collection - The CRISPR Revolution
-Science Magazine - Breakthrough of the Year, 2015
-Toronto Star article on Dr. Cohn's work
-CBC News story
- Quanta Magazine story
-New Yorker story