Should We Design Babies Using CRISPR?

We are now entering the era of gene-editing where the power to design life is almost within our hands. But should we do it?

By: Sean Lemuel L. Santos (Hybrizyme)

Designer babies were once science-fiction. Now, a powerful tool known as CRISPR has the potential to rewrite the human DNA and create babies without diseases. But this comes with ethical concerns (Photo courtesy of: singularityhub.com).

In 2018, a Chinese researcher named Dr. He Jiankiu announced that he has created the world’s first gene-edited babies. Dr. He claims that he made these babies resistant to HIV by editing a gene using a new, powerful molecular tool known as CRISPR. He edited the gene known as CCR5 so that the virus could not, supposedly, attack the immune system’s cells of the babies.

Incredible as it may sound, Dr. He’s experiment has sparked huge safety concerns among scientists and raised ethical issues on gene-editing.

But what exactly is CRISPR and why is using it such a big deal?

What CRISPR was

CRISPR is a revolutionary, gene-editing technology that was first discovered as an ancient immune system of bacteria against invading viruses. It has two components: the CRISPR or Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats which are the repeating parts in the bacteria’s DNA, and the Cas9 or CRISPR-associated protein 9 which acts like a sniper looking for any virus DNA that it could “kill”.

When a virus infects bacteria and injects its DNA, Cas9 would cut a piece of this virus’ DNA and paste it within the CRISPR so that the bacteria could “remember” the virus. The bacteria would then produce a copy of this virus DNA known as the short-guide RNA (sgRNA) which Cas9 would bring as it scouts the cell for any signs of the virus DNA. When a virus infects again, Cas9 would use the sgRNA to look for any match. And when it does, it would chop up the virus DNA like a paper shredder.

What CRISPR is

Now, scientists have been able to turn CRISPR from being a shield against viruses to being a weapon against diseases. CRISPR is now being used as a gene-editing tool that could look for harmful genes and remove them out of the DNA. But how? by designing the sgRNA to look exactly like a bad gene, scientists can deploy CRISPR to locate this bad gene, remove it from the DNA of an organism, and then allow the cell to repair any resulting damage.

The potentials of CRISPR in biology, agriculture and medicine are enormous. For one, it can be used to genetically edit mosquitoes so that they would not carry malaria or dengue and thereby stop the spread of these deadly diseases. It can also be use to design crops that are resistant to drought, heat or harmful pests. More importantly, CRISPR can be utilized to treat genetic diseases that afflict mankind such as sickle-cell anemia, cystic fibrosis or Tay-Sachs disease. 

But can CRISPR be used to design life?

Enter the World of Designer Babies

In the past, designing life is all left to chance. Parents do not have any idea if their babies have genetic diseases until they are born and have grown up. But advancements in medicine have changed all this. Now, parents can determine which embryos are genetically healthy and which ones are not. They could then select the “best” embryo to be implanted into the mother’s womb. This is done through a process known as pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD).

With CRISPR being developed as a gene-editing tool, it could one day be used to produce babies without genetic diseases or even babies with enhanced traits such as intelligence, athletic ability, or creativity.

CRISPR is cheap, powerful and limitless.  It is only a matter of time before it can be used to create designer babies. The question then is not how it can be used to design life, but should we actually use it for such?

Here are some things that we have to consider:

Somatic vs. Germline Editing

There are two types of editing that can be done using CRISPR: somatic gene editing and germline editing. In somatic gene editing, changes in the DNA are done in any of the individual’s cells except the sperm or the egg. As a result, any changes (and problems) made stays within the individual and are not passed on to the next generation.

Ethical concerns arise mostly in germline editing where changes are made in the DNA of sperms, eggs or human embryos. These changes are permanent and are handed down to offspring. The problem with germline editing is that there is no informed consent given to the future generations. It could also stir the course of human evolution in ways we do not intend to. We might for example prefer to have all babies HIV-resistant but if an outbreak of West Nile virus (in which HIV-resistant people are prone to) occurs, all these babies would least likely to survive.

Treatment vs. Enhancement

Another concern in CRISPR is whether we should use it only to cure diseases or also utilize it to attain genetic advantages. CRISPR can be a powerful medical tool that could treat human diseases and thereby alleviate the suffering of millions. If proven safe and reliable, then it should definitely be used to cure diseases. However, the concern appears when CRISPR is to be used as a form of enhancement. Many bioethicists are concerned that using CRISPR to improve, say intelligence or height, could lead to a new form of eugenics wherein individuals with less of a physical feature are deemed inferior and useless.

Affordable vs. Expensive

As what happens to the fate of many technologies, CRISPR could also be possessed by the hands of a few. For now, CRISPR remains affordable for research. But in the future, only the rich might have an easy access to this technology which tremendously widens the gap between the rich and the poor. This could create a society whose hierarchy is based on the quality of their genetics. Already, rich people have an environmental advantage over poor people. They have better access to clean water, healthcare and education. If CRISPR becomes a luxury, only the rich could have a genetic advantage which ultimately worsens the conditions of the poor and leads to further inequality.

Safe vs. Risky

CRISPR has already undergone a tremendous number of experiments by a myriad of scientists for over many years. However, there is still much that we don’t know about them. One thing is its safety. Just recently, in a paper published in Nature, CRISPR has been found to have caused large scale deletions and rearrangements in the DNA of mouse stem cells. As of this moment, we still don’t know if CRISPR can accurately make the edit we intend to. And even if it can, we are also unsure if it is not changing the normal genes we don’t want to be edited. These so-called off-target effects in the DNA can have serious consequences such as the emergence of new diseases or development of cancer.

Need vs. Want

Should we actually design life based on choice or should we just leave everything to chance? This is an important question that surrounds the use of gene-editing. For some, gene-editing should be considered ethical since we are using this technology to provide the next generation with genetic advantages that would keep them from having diseases and even allow them to contribute significantly to society. They see CRISPR as a need– an imperative to make a better world. On the other hand, some would say that gene-editing is unethical since it plays with life. It prioritizes subjective human preferences over natural processes that have shaped the course of our evolution for millions of years. They look at CRISPR as a want–a human vanity.

What We Should Do

As the CRISPR technology develops, it is important that we make careful steps. Public discussions and debates must continuously be done so that the whole society would have clear ethical agreements.  Strict regulations and guidelines must also be imposed on the use of CRISPR to prevent unintended consequences on the environment and human health. Research must also be expanded by governments so that our knowledge of CRISPR would increase and our awareness of its implications would widen.

CRISPR is a powerful tool that can change the world but can also be destructive if we become irresponsible with its use. Right now, we must proceed with caution so that the potentials of CRISPR in improving our lives would not be laid to waste.