Excerpt
SUMMARY: CRISPR, a new method for editing genes, has been called a development that could revolutionize medicine. Cheaper and more precise than past gene editing, this promising tool has also raised concerns. Gwen Ifill talks to Jennifer Doudna of University of California, Berkeley and Paul Knoepfler of University of California, Davis.
GWEN IFILL (NewsHour): It’s been called the scientific breakthrough of the year, and a development that could revolutionize medicine. It’s all about a way of editing genes, known as CRISPR.
The new method allows scientists to snip out a faulty section of DNA and replace specific genes in living cells. Researchers have long edited genes in the lab, but CRISPR is cheaper, far more precise, and could even be used in DNA found in eggs and sperm.
It has lots of promise, but it has raised many concerns too.
We explore those questions with Jennifer Doudna, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who helped develop this breakthrough, and Paul Knoepfler, a biologist and writer from at University of California, Davis.
Welcome to you both.
Jennifer Doudna, I’m going to start by just asking you to define in laywoman’s language gene editing and CRISPR.
JENNIFER DOUDNA, University of California, Berkeley: Well, I would say gene editing is a method of making very precise changes to the DNA in a cell, and the CRISPR methodology allows scientists to do that with just really unprecedented precision.
GWEN IFILL: So, there is a targeted, practical use for this?
JENNIFER DOUDNA: Indeed, actually many.
It’s a technology that operates in basically all types of cells and allows very precise changes to be made to the genetic code that allows scientists to do things like explore the function of genes and also, in principle, correct mutations that cause disease.
WARNING - The big "IF" is if 'they' get it scientifically right AND ethically right. If 'they' get it ethically wrong, we could end up with only the rich-and-powerful engineering the 'super race.'
Also, here's a scary book title: "GMO Sapiens" (as mentioned in video)
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