SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
The advent of enzyme complex CRISPR/Cas9 has ushered in a new age of genetic manipulation—it could help us cure diseases or resuscitate extinct species. One of CRISPR’s big advantages is that it’s much easier to use than its predecessors. So easy, in fact, that amateur biohackers are using it in their experiments, according to a report from Nature News.
It’s natural to be nervous about this. CRISPR is a powerful tool that scientists don’t fully understand, and it can have unintended consequences even when used cautiously. Ever since April, when a team of Chinese researchers published their findings after using CRISPR to change the genes of human embryos, the discussion has reached a fever pitch. Experts have been discussing the issue of consent (embryos can’t consent to having their genes manipulated, and the effects could be passed down for generations), the consequences of introducing an unintended change, and the effects on the ecosystem should a genetically manipulated animal break free from the lab.
http://www.popsci.com/biohackers-are-now-using-crispr
Article at Nature
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Adamsjas on Friday August 28 2015, @03:47AM
Even when tools like CRISPR are used to change the genes of consenting (adult) humans, the changed genes can get into the gene pool. How do we protect against some willing participant volunteering for something that has generational consequences.?
Are labeling demands for GMO foods going to be demanded for GMO humans?
(Score: 3, Touché) by JNCF on Friday August 28 2015, @04:19AM
Maybe we could use the government's threat of force to make them wear armbands that say "GMO." That will surely end well.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Friday August 28 2015, @09:22AM
Why do you need protection?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Friday August 28 2015, @03:03PM
He must think that touching the "tainted GMO people" will somehow infect him.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 2) by JNCF on Saturday August 29 2015, @04:12PM
He must think that touching the "tainted GMO people" will somehow infect him.
As the nauseous cannibal remarked on a particularly hot day... "'TAIN'T THE MEAT... IT'S THE HUMANITY!" [goshlondon.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Phoenix666 on Friday August 28 2015, @01:22PM
That assumes that the current available gene pool is static and unchanging, which it most certainly is not. DNA from viruses, mutations from environmental contaminants (for the widest possible definition of "contaminant"), and changes induced by epigenetics are occurring all the time. With CRISPR and its successors we humans might for once have a conscious say in the direction in which that's going to proceed. Now, there's still a great deal we don't know about gene expression, but as CRISPR opens the door to mistakes so does it also open the door to greater understanding, because it shortens the feedback loop between test and analysis.
As to societal responses to the challenges of CRISPR, I wouldn't worry about it for now. 30+ years into the Information Revolution and only now are the implications beginning to sink in for public policy, and they still haven't got a clue how to respond. When you think about how apt they are likely to be when CRISPR and 3D printing and carbon nanotubes/graphene and renewable energy kick in, it makes you chuckle.
Me, I'd be first in line to volunteer to be a GMO human. Then, I'd also be first in line to be a cyborg.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by morgauxo on Friday August 28 2015, @02:07PM
If only I could have had my family's dust, pollen and smoke allergies and predisposition towards heart disease removed from my own genes before I passed them down to my daughter. That would have been one of the best gifts I could have ever given her. If my wife could have had her migraine, medicine and food allergy genes removed.. that would have been 100 times better!
I really hope the generation comes soon that is conceived without those genes and several other maladies that we have passed to our children for countless generations. To all the people who think it is a terrible thing to cure these things and pass the cure on... I think you are truly terrible people. Maybe when we have the technology to remove our own maladies we can use the same technology to give them to you since you think they are such great things to have. Just please don't have any kids afterward because it isn't their fault that their parents are naturlist ludites!
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 28 2015, @03:47PM
What if fixing one problem creates another?
(Score: 2) by morgauxo on Friday August 28 2015, @05:42PM
If it does create a new problem then you have a new problem to chose between either passing on or not. It's just like how people with genetic problems have the choice today of either having kids and taking the risk of passing down the problem or not having kids. At least technology could give people a third option, a chance of fixing the problem once and for all.
But what if it doesn't create a new problem? Or what if the new problem is better than the original one?