Two women scientist were recently facilitated with Nobel peace prize in Chemistry Emmanuelle Charpentier from France and Jennifer A. Doudna from Germany they received the prize for this contribution and development of a method for genome editing.
The two have developed the use of CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) – Cas9 (CRISPR-associated protein 9) as a gene-editing tool. But there is a concern that the gene-editing system can cause many social and anthropogenic issues.
What is CRISPR ?
CRISPRs are specialized stretches of DNA. The protein Cas9 is an enzyme that acts like a pair of molecular scissors, capable of cutting strands of DNA. It allows researchers to easily alter DNA sequences and modify gene function. Its potential applications is correcting genetic defects, treating and preventing the spread of diseases and improving crops.
Where is it applicable ?
Its major application is said to be in agriculture mostly to increase plant yield, quality, disease resistance, herbicide resistance and domestication of wild species. There is a huge potential of editing genes and to create a large number of crop varieties with better agronomic performance; it has also brought in remarkable changes in breeding technology.
CRISPR provides with superior genetic models for disease research, drug screening, and therapy development, rapid diagnostics, in-vivo editing and correction of genetic conditions. Scientists are working on the theory that it might boost the function of the body’s T-cells so that the immune system is accurate at recognizing and killing cancer, disorders of the blood and immune system. CRISPR/Cas9 has promising in a way to create potential genome editing treatments for diseases such as cancer , HIV or Cell disease. Researchers in China edited human embryos to try to correct a faulty gene that caused an inherited blood disorder. It is also used for Therapeutic Cloning that is a process where the embryonic cells are cloned to obtain biological organs for transplantation for future use.
what is the status of India ?
In India, policies backed by the “Rules for the Manufacture, Use, Import, Export and Storage of Hazardous Microorganisms/Genetically Engineered Organisms or Cells, 1989” under the Environment Protection Act, 1986, manage genetically modified organisms. The National Ethical Guidelines for Biomedical and Health Research involving human participants, 2017, by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), and the Biomedical and Health Research Regulation Bill implies regulation of the gene-editing process. However, there is no explicit mention of the term gene editing.
Why is it a matter of concern ?
There are concerns over the creation of food that can cause an allergic reaction. A Study from the Karolinska Institute, Sweden, and one from the biopharmaceutical company Novartis, have mentioned that CRISPR-Cas9-edited cells might trigger cancer.
Germline Editing means deliberately changing the genes passed on to children and future generations and creating modified persons. The issue is regarding changes made in the germline would be passed down to future generations. Human germline modification has for many years been widely considered off-limits, for both safety and social reasons.
Another issue is that wealthy parents can buy the latest offspring upgrades for their children and this might lead to the emergence of genetic haves and have-nots and even greater inequality. There is a potential misuse of a technology that could be used for eugenics, to create genetic discrimination.
Illegal Experimentation is another concern. Once Chinese researcher used the tool to modify a particular gene in the embryo to make babies immune to HIV infection, which led to international furor. Hence no guidelines have been drawn up so far, there is a general consensus in the scientific and ethics communities that the gene-editing technique should not be used clinically on embryos. The biggest limitation of CRISPR is it is not a hundred percent efficient and its effects cannot be measured. There is also the phenomenon of “off-target effects,” where DNA is cut at sites other than the intended target. This can lead to the introduction of unintended mutations
There are various ethical and moral dilemmas regarding CRISPR. Hence, it is essential for India to draw limitations in order to curb any misuse.
