Copy and paste - one step towards human design
In the 30s, Aldous Huxley, in his famous novel Brave New World, described the so-called genetic selection of future employees - specific people, based on a genetic key, will be assigned to perform certain social functions.
Huxley wrote about the "degumming" of children with desired traits in appearance and character, taking into account both the birthdays themselves and the subsequent accustoming to life in an idealized society.
“Making people better is likely to be the biggest industry of the XNUMXth century,” he predicts. Yuval Harari, author of the recently published book Homo Deus. As an Israeli historian notes, our organs still work the same way every 200 XNUMX. many years ago. However, he adds that a solid person can cost quite a lot, which will bring social inequality to a whole new dimension. “For the first time in history, economic inequality can also mean biological inequality,” writes Harari.
An old dream of science fiction writers is to develop a method for fast and direct "loading" of knowledge and skills into the brain. It turns out that DARPA has launched a research project that aims to do just that. Program called Targeted Neuroplasticity Training (TNT) aims to speed up the process of acquiring new knowledge by the mind through manipulations that take advantage of synaptic plasticity. The researchers believe that by neurostimulating the synapses, they can be switched to a more regular and orderly mechanism for making the connections that are the essence of science.
Model representation of targeted neuroplastic training
CRISPR as MS Word
Although at the moment this seems unreliable to us, there are still reports from the world of science that the end of death is near. Even tumors. Immunotherapy, by equipping the cells of the patient's immune system with molecules that "match" cancer, has been very successful. During the study, in 94% (!) of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the symptoms disappeared. In patients with tumor diseases of the blood, this percentage is 80%.
And this is just an introduction, because this is a real hit of recent months. CRISPR gene editing method. This alone makes the process of editing genes something that some compare to editing text in MS Word - an efficient and relatively simple operation.
CRISPR stands for the English term ("accumulated regularly interrupted palindromic short repetitions"). The method consists in editing the DNA code (cutting out broken fragments, replacing them with new ones, or adding DNA code fragments, as is the case with word processors) so as to restore cells affected by cancer, and even completely destroy cancer, eliminate it from cells. CRISPR is said to mimic nature, in particular the method used by bacteria to defend themselves against attacks from viruses. However, unlike GMOs, changing genes does not result in genes from other species.
The history of the CRISPR method begins in 1987. A group of Japanese researchers then discovered several not very typical fragments in the bacterial genome. They were in the form of five identical sequences, separated by completely different sections. The scientists didn't understand this. The case only received more attention when similar DNA sequences were found in other bacterial species. So, in the cells they had to serve something important. In 2002 Ruud Jansen from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands decided to call these sequences CRISPR. Jansen's team also found that the cryptic sequences were always accompanied by a gene encoding an enzyme called cas9which can cut the DNA strand.
After a few years, scientists figured out what the function of these sequences is. When a virus attacks a bacterium, the Cas9 enzyme grabs its DNA, cuts it and compresses it between identical CRISPR sequences in the bacterial genome. This template will come in handy when the bacteria are attacked again by the same type of virus. Then the bacteria will immediately recognize it and destroy it. After years of research, scientists have concluded that CRISPR, in combination with the Cas9 enzyme, can be used to manipulate DNA in the lab. Research groups Jennifer Doudna from the University of Berkeley in the USA and Emmanuelle Charpentier from Umeå University in Sweden announced in 2012 that the bacterial system, when modified, allows editing any DNA fragment: you can cut genes out of it, insert new genes, turn them on or off.
The method itself, called CRISPR-Cas9, it works by recognizing foreign DNA through mRNA, which is responsible for carrying genetic information. The entire CRISPR sequence is then split into shorter fragments (crRNA) containing the viral DNA fragment and the CRISPR sequence. Based on this information contained in the CRISPR sequence, tracrRNA is created, which is attached to the crRNA formed together with gRNA, which is a specific record of the virus, its signature is remembered by the cell and used in the fight against the virus.
In the event of infection, gRNA, which is a model of the attacking virus, binds to the Cas9 enzyme and cuts the attacker into pieces, making them completely harmless. The cut pieces are then added to the CRISPR sequence, a special threat database. In the course of further development of the technique, it turned out that a person can create gRNA, which allows you to interfere with genes, replace them or cut out dangerous fragments.
Last year, oncologists at Sichuan University in Chengdu began testing a gene-editing technique using the CRISPR-Cas9 method. This was the first time this revolutionary method had been tested on a person with cancer. A patient suffering from aggressive lung cancer received cells containing modified genes to help him fight the disease. They took cells from him, cut them out for a gene that would weaken the action of his own cells against cancer, and inserted them back into the patient. Such modified cells should better cope with cancer.
This technique, in addition to being cheap and simple, has another great advantage: modified cells can be thoroughly tested before re-introduction. they are modified outside the patient. They take blood from him, carry out appropriate manipulations, select the appropriate cells and only then inject. The safety is much higher than if we feed such cells directly and wait to see what happens.
i.e. a genetically programmed child
What can we change from Genetic Engineering? It turns out a lot. There are reports of this technique being used to alter the DNA of plants, bees, pigs, dogs, and even human embryos. We have information about crops that can defend themselves against attacking fungi, about vegetables with long-lasting freshness, or about farm animals that are immune to dangerous viruses. CRISPR has also enabled work to be done to modify mosquitoes that spread malaria. With the help of CRISPR, it was possible to introduce a microbial resistance gene into the DNA of these insects. And in such a way that all their descendants inherit it - without exception.
However, the ease of changing DNA codes raises many ethical dilemmas. While there is no doubt that this method can be used to treat cancer patients, it is somewhat different when we consider using it to treat obesity or even blonde hair problems. Where to put the limit of interference in human genes? Changing the patient's gene may be acceptable, but changing the genes in the embryos will also be automatically passed on to the next generation, which can be used for the good, but also for the detriment of humanity.
In 2014, an American researcher announced that he had modified viruses to inject elements of CRISPR into mice. There, the DNA created was activated, causing a mutation that caused the human equivalent of lung cancer... In a similar way, it would theoretically be possible to create biological DNA that causes cancer in humans. In 2015, Chinese researchers reported that they had used CRISPR to modify genes in human embryos whose mutations lead to an inherited disease called thalassemia. The treatment has been controversial. The two most important scientific journals in the world, Nature and Science, have refused to publish the work of the Chinese. It finally appeared in Protein & Cell magazine. By the way, there is information that at least four other research groups in China are also working on genetic modification of human embryos. The first results of these studies are already known - scientists have inserted into the DNA of the embryo a gene that gives immunity to HIV infection.
Many experts believe that the birth of a child with artificially modified genes is only a matter of time.
