The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune

Yesterday it was announced that twin girls were born in China. They are the first babies in the world to be genetically altered, in order to make them immune to HIV.

And so it begins... humans have found the means to reengineer themselves. CRISPER (clustered regularly interspersed short palindromic repeats) is a library of DNA snippets, that bacteria use to identify viruses and destroy them. This technique has been adapted to work on the human genome.

Sickle cell is caused by a genetic typo. The beta-globin gene has the letter A at position 17, instead of the letter T. Scientists can now create a CRISPER molecule that snips out the A and replaces it with a T. Problem solved. No more sickle cell. This can be done at the embryonic stage or even in a full grown adult.

Some people are naturally resistant to HIV (20% of Northern Europeans). Turns out they have a naturally occurring mutation. They lack 32 letters of DNA in the gene CCR5, which is located on the surface of white blood cells. HIV recognises and uses these 32 letters to latch on to white blood cells to start the invasion. If you don’t have these 32 letters, then the HIV virus has nothing to attach to and you’re immune. So again, a custom CRISPR package can be built and injected into an embryo and presto, HIV immune baby. Similarly, adults can be injected to become immune and those with HIV, cured.

Some cancers are hard to treat. Lung, colon, breast, pancreatic, prostate, leukaemia, lymphoma, liver, ovarian, oesophageal, all have high mortality rates. CRISPER can be used to target whatever cancer you may have. A DNA snippet of your cancer is programmed into a CRISPER molecule.

The same CRISPR is also programmed to modify T cells, so that they recognise that specific cancer. Inject the CRISPER package and a month later, cancer gone and cannot come back. And it’s possible to create a CRISPER package that can recognise almost any form of cancer.

CRISPR packages can be devised to correct a slew of genetic disorders. Autism, Crohn’s, cystic fibroses, Down’s syndrome, MS, haemophilia, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, Tay-Sachs and many others, can be prevented by injecting an embryo that grows to be totally free of these diseases.

But what’s more, these individuals will pass these genetic modifications to their offspring, who in turn will pass it on to theirs. Thus, genetic disease can be eradicated from the human genome.

But what else is possible? Well just about anything. Belgian Blue cows are naturally about 20% more muscular than other cows. It turns out that they have a defect in their myostatin gene (which acts as a brake on muscle development).

A CRISPR molecule can be devised that knocks out the myostatin gene in humans and presto, we have babies that are born super strong and grow up to looking like body builders. And again, they pass this modification to their offspring. Want children with blue eyes? No problem. Almost any trait can be programmed. And so eugenics becomes a reality. We have entered the age of designer babies.

THEODORE P TSAVOUSSIS

Nassau

November 27, 2018