We can now edit the human genome – how far should we go? [video]
Unless I am unaware of something, CRISPR is not yet ready for medical usage. Sure, it is an amazing research tool. But every gene editing trick built on the back of this incredibly useful protein (Cas9, that is) has &quot;off-target&quot; effects. These mean that not only do you mutate your target, you cause a whole bunch of other mutations. The future of human genome engineering is almost certainly going to feature CRISPR genes in some capacity, but we just don&#x27;t have the precision, reliability, and ability to avoid other deleterious mutations yet to do so.<p>Also, as someone working with CRISPR, it isn&#x27;t quite as easy as it is made to sound. It is relatively easy, but still a lot of work! I guess that is a footnote when it makes the impossible, possible though. We need to keep having these ethics conversations though, so we can use this tool wisely.<p>For further reading I would recommend Jennifer Doudna&#x27;s &quot;A crack in creation&quot;. She is one of the founders of CRISPR as a gene editing tool, and her book is good reading on the topic.