The Ethical Issues of Gene Editing Technology: CRISPR/ Cas 9 System

Introduction

For decades now, scientists have been seeking to correct deformities and combat diseases through various means such as vaccination and treatment. However, in the latter half of the 20th century and the into the 21st century, the battle against disease-causing pathogens has taken a new phase ever since the advent of genetic and genomic science. Genome editing has become an area of great interest in treating some of the most stubborn and debilitating illnesses. However, gene editing has elicited an equal amount of controversies and ethical concerns. Genome editing involves the interference an organism's DNA and molecular processes with the aim of repairing or altering the DNA to suit a preconceived form (Kimmelman,2005). The CRISPR/ Cas 9 System is a naturally occurring part of the prokaryotic immune system whose role is to combat pathogens and plasmids at the genetic level. The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats(CRISPR). This system is made up of short repeating DNA sequences that are accompanied by spaced DNA sequences due to bacterial or plasmid exposure. The CRISPR system has an extremely intelligent functioning. It stores the DNA sequences from invading viruses of plasmids. When there is an exposure to the same type of virus or plasmids, the CRISPR system interprets it using a transcribed RNA system and orders a cas nuclease to severe the DNA. In so doing, the defense against invading organisms is strengthened. The use of the CRISPR/Cas 9 gene editing technique has been having very promising applications more so because it can cut the DNA of all genomes at any specified location(Rodriguez,2016). However, with recent breakthroughs especially with the discovery that gene editing through the CRISPR/Cas 9 system can be applied to human genes, it is becoming evident that this genetic technology is a no-go zone due to potential repercussions and ethical concerns. In future, the potential risks of using gene editing technology will outweigh the potential benefits of the technology.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

One of the most important ethical issues governing medical research is that the potential benefits of any research must outweigh the risks. Given the fact that genome editing has can cause inheritable alterations and total transformation of a species, the greater attention must be directed to the risks. The application of the CRISPR/Cas 9 technique must be undertaken with great caution since it has a potential to damage both plants and animals and the environment. There is a very heavy margin of risk when using the CRISPR/Cas9 technique especially because it may produce unforeseen off-target mutations. These mutations can be deleterious. Research indicates that there is an existence of high-frequency off-target mutations in humans. DNA sequences are very complex and homologous with slightly different alterations. One of the most pronounced problem in gene editing using the CRISPR/Cas9 system is that large genomes may be having repeated DNA sequences which are highly similar and homologous. The CRISPR/Cas9 is notorious for cleaving to these similar DNA sequences in there use and caused unintended cell mutations that are responsible for cell death and transformation (Caplan et al. 2015). Given the fact the there is a high frequency of repeated similar and homologous DNA sequences in the human genome, the application of the CRISPR/Cas9 system in human gene editing is extremely risky. There have been significant efforts undertaken to reduce the chances of mistaken identity of the similar DNA sequences in large genomes.However, there is a need for precise modifications that will guarantee a very slim margin of error arising from the CRISPR/Cas system-a thing which has proven to be extremely complex to achieve.

The application of the CRISPR/Cas9 system to the human genes has been shown to carry significant risks of hereditable unpredictable genetic mutation. The applications of therapeutic interventions in human beings using gene editing technology has often employed the use of somatic cells. However, recent breakthroughs by Chinese genetic scientists have indicated that it is possible to effect inheritable changes in the human germline. The use of the somatic cells method of genetic intervention was primarily accepted mainly because it did not interfere with the human germline. However, the CRISPR/Cas9 system can produce an entirely different human species through genetic mutations. The unpredictability of the effects of the CRISPR/Cas9 system on the human genome means that this technique is extremely risky should scientist continue to explore it on human beings. With the somatic cells technique of gene editing, it is possible to obtain informed consent from the patients. However, there can be catastrophic consequences of using the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technique since resulting cell mutations, and future generations can inherit deformities by default (Rodriguez,2016). This means that the CRISPR/Ca9 system has the potential to wipe out future generations should there be unpredictable and uncontrolled inheritable gene mutations (Bredenoord et al.2011). This explains why some concerned scientists are calling for a moratorium on the use and exploration of the CRISPR/Cas9 system of genome editing. It is too dangerous to expose future human generations to unintended genetic mutations.

Genetically modified organisms are extremely difficult to regulate once outside the lab. The application of the CRISPS/Cas 9 technique of genome editing has been shown to produce inheritable traits in an organism, both plants, and animals. Should there need to regulate these organisms once they have been released to the environment, it will be too difficult to trace them due to there close similarity to the natural organisms (Ormandy, Dale & Griffin2011).The US Food and Drug Administration has already had difficulties trying to govern genetically modified organisms in the past. With the advent of the CRISPR/Cas9 system, however, it is evident that there is going to be an expanded market and occurrence of genetically modified organisms. There have been speculations in the past that consumption of GMO's pose health challenges. What if the consumable products of the CRISPR/Cas9 system are shown to have health challenges once already in the market? Regulating such genetically modified products would be too difficult and can cause harm to millions of innocent consumers worldwide.

The formation of animal chimeras for organ transplantation has been shown to wield significant risks. The animal chimeras for organ transplantation are used in place of real human organ donations. It is normally difficult and expensive to get vital human organ transplants. The use of chimeras has elicited ethical concerns in that these organs are a combination of human and animal neural systems will, therefore, be very difficult to decide as to whether to treat the resulting organism as a human or an animal (Rodriguez,2016). This risks disrupting the order of nature, and there is a potential moral dilemma that might result (Frankel & Chapman,2000).It is too risky and ethically unacceptable to amalgamate man and beast.

Conclusion

The continued use of the CRISPR/Cas9 system of genome editing is too risky for current and future plant and animal generations. Though there is potentially interesting and wide application of this system, the risks associated with this system much more than the benefits.Since this system has a potential to produce inheritable genetic modification in both plant-animal lives, there is a risk to the future life on earth. The CRISPR/Cas9 system is associated with unpredictable genetic mutation and cell deaths. CRISPR/Cas9 is a very efficient technique of gene editing. It will therefore be too difficult to regulate CRISPR/Cas9 genetically modified organisms once out of the lab due to their expanded nature. As a result, there future use of the CRISPR/Cas9 system of genome editing should be banned. It is a threat to the future species on planet earth.

References

Rodriguez, E. (2016). Ethical issues in genome editing using Crispr/Cas9 system. J Clin Res Bioeth, 7(2), 266.

Ormandy, E. H., Dale, J., & Griffin, G. (2011). Genetic engineering of animals: Ethical issues,

Caplan, A. L., Parent, B., Shen, M., & Plunkett, C. (2015). No time to waste-the ethical challenges created by CRISPR: CRISPR/Cas, being an efficient,simple, and cheap technology to edit the genome of any organism, raises many ethical and regulatory issues beyond the use to manipulate human germ line cells. EMBO reports, 16(11),1421-1426.including welfare concerns. The Canadian Veterinary Journal, 52(5), 544.

Kimmelman, J. (2005). Recent developments in gene transfer: risk and ethics. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 330(7482), 79.

Bredenoord, A. L., Dondorp, W., Pennings, G., & De Wert, G. (2011). Ethics of modifying the mitochondrial genome. Journal of medical ethics, 37(2), 97-100.

Frankel, M. S., & Chapman, A. R. (2000, September). Human inheritable genetic modifications: assessing scientific, ethical, religious, and policy issues. In American Association for the Advancement of Science (pp. 1-82).