Jennifer Doudna and NPR science correspondent Joe Palca, several interviews
Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN
2.1.3.5 Jennifer Doudna and NPR science correspondent Joe Palca, several interviews, Volume 2 (Volume Two: Latest in Genomics Methodologies for Therapeutics: Gene Editing, NGS and BioInformatics, Simulations and the Genome Ontology), Part 2: CRISPR for Gene Editing and DNA Repair
UPDATED on 11/27/2018
The ethical red flags of genetically edited babies
Driving the news: Chinese scientist He Jiankui announced Sunday night that a pair of twin girls had been born from embryos he modified using the gene-editing tool known as CRISPR.
- He hasn’t provided solid proof, but if it‘s true, it would be the first time the technology has been used to engineer a human.
What they’re saying: The inventors of CRISPR technology did not seem pleased with the development — one called for a moratorium on implantation edited embryos into potential mothers.
- “I hope we will be more cautious in the next thing we try to do, and think more carefully about when you should use technology versus when you could use technology,” said Jessica Berg, a bioethicist at Case Western Reserve University.
Between the lines: Several specific factors in He’s work sent up ethical red flags.
- Many scientists had assumed that, when this technology was first used in humans, it would edit out mutations tied to a single gene that were certain to cause a child pain and suffering once it was born — essentially, as a last resort.
- But He used CRISPR to, as he put it, “close a door” that HIV could have one day traveled through. That has prompted some speculation that this project was more about testing the technology than serving an acute medical need.
- “That should make us very uneasy about the whole situation,” Berg said. “Of all the things to have started with, it does make you a little suspicious about this particular choice.”
The intrigue: There’s a lot we still don’t know about He’s work, and that’s also contributing to an attitude of skepticism.
- How many embryos did he edit and implant before these live births?
- How will he know it worked? As the children age, they’ll likely have their blood drawn and those samples will be exposed to HIV in a lab, but researchers aren’t going to tell them to go out and have unprotected sex or use intravenous drugs — another reason HIV seems like an odd starting place for human gene editing.
- How did this even happen? The university where He worked said he was on leave, and Chinese officials have said he’s under investigation. But gene editing is a pretty hard thing to freelance.
The other side: He defended his work in a video message, saying, “I understand my work will be controversial but I believe families need this technology and I’m willing to take the criticism for them.”
- “Their parents don’t want a designer baby, just a child who won’t suffer from a disease which medicine can now prevent,” He said.
Yes, but: Now that this threshold may have been crossed, attempts to create “designer babies” — within the limitations of what CRISPR can do — probably aren’t far off, some experts fear.
- There are “likely to be places that are less regulated than others, where people are going to attempt to see what they can do,” Berg said. “I wouldn’t say everything in the world has changed now, but it’s certainly the next step.”
UPDATED on 11/26/2018
CRISPR co-inventor responds to claim of first genetically edited babies
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The report was met with instant concern…not convinced that the technology is ready — or safe — for…
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Doudna, who spoke at Harvard’s Science Center, explained the work that led to the development of CRISPR/Cas9 gene–editing technology, which was described in a paper in the journal Science in 2012. A sign of how quickly the techniques would be adopted by her scientific colleagues came within months.
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Eventbrite – Science History Institute presents Jennifer A. Doudna, “CRISPR Biology and Biotechnology: the Future of Genome Editing” – Friday, November 16, 2018 at Science History Institute, Philadelphia, PA.
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A pioneer of the Crispr gene–editing technology that’s taken Wall Street by storm says the field is probably five to 10 years away from having an approved therapy for patients.
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BOOK BY JENNIFER DOUDNA AND SAMUEL STERNBERG HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT, 2017 304 PP.; $28.00 (HARDCOVER) $14.99 (KINDLE) CRISPR is the basis of a genome editingtechnology—the latest breakthrough in the grand tradition that began over 400 generations ago when we started to grow wheat and rice instead of just picking its wild cousins.
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The CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology was discovered in 2012 by campus professor of chemistry, molecular biology and biochemistry Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, director at the Max …
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2 hours ago · The International Summit on Human Genome Editing begins here on Tuesday and many researchers, ethicists, and policymakers attending the meeting first learned of He’s claim through media reports.
Video of Conversation With Jennifer Doudna and NPR’s Joe Palca
WATCH VIDEO
https://today.lbl.gov/2018/01/26/video-of-conversation-with-jennifer-doudna-and-nprs-joe-palca/
Published on Jan 24, 2018
Jennifer Doudna Talks CRISPR Origins, Implications with NPR’s Joe Palca
SOURCE
Jennifer Doudna featured on NPR’s Morning Edition for her work on CRISPR/Cas9 — a tool for editing genes
UC Berkeley’s Jennifer Doudna was featured on NPR’s Morning Edition for her work on CRISPR/Cas9 — a tool for editing genes. Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues showed that CRISPR/Cas9, can be used with great precision to selectively disable or add several genes at once in human cells, offering a potent new tool to understand and treat complex genetic diseases.
Read more and listen to the full story, “In Hopes Of Fixing Faulty Genes, One Scientist Starts With the Basics.”
SOURCE
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