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"Monstrous, irresponsible, dangerous, disappointing or premature"These are some of the qualifications with which the international scientific community has described the controversy of the week, and that is that under the birth of two innocent twins in Shenzhen City (China), one of the The most controversial experiences is hidden from recent years: we have just crossed a red line in the evolution of the species.
And, however, it is only the prelude to what lies ahead. Genetic editing is not yet ready to treat patients, but CRISPR is so simple, inexpensive and accurate that it is very difficult to control. "The age of genetics" has begun and that is what we can expect.
To explore the enormous possibilities of genetic publishing, we have invited our last episode of Erase the X a Javier Jiménez, science editor at Xataka who next to Santi Araujo, in charge of production, will guide us through a world in which "we can already play to be gods".
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Quick guide to understanding how CRISPR can change the future of the human species
Why are we still talking about CRISPR?
The news of the week was undoubtedly the birth in China of two twins (Lulu and Nana) whose DNA would have been genetically edited by CRISPR. Jiankui He, professor of excellence at the South Shenzhen University of Science and Technology, China, and his team have genetically modified fifteen embryos of nine volunteer pairs to obtain embryos with the mutation desired. According to the team itself, the first successful pregnancy was completed in November 2018 and the second will be exhausted in the next few months.
The intervention attempted to "invalidate" the CCR5 receptor gene that has a very close relationship with the T cells of the immune system. To summarize, people who own two copies of the delta32 mutation are HIV resistant. This is a well-known variant because some experts consider it one of the ten most "safe" changes to begin to improve the human being genetically.
The result, according to the researchers, was not entirely satisfactory. Only one of the girls has the complete edition. The other is a genetic mosaic (that is, some of its cells have deleted CCR5 and some do not). But no matter, if it is confirmed that it is true, we will face the first case of human improvement, a line that until now no one had dared to cross.
How did we manage to do all this?
To understand it, we have to go to the saltworks of Santa Pola, in Alicante, in the 80's. There, a young Spanish researcher, Fracis Mojica, found in the cells cells of strange repetitions that seemed very important, although he does not understand very well. because. It took more than 20 years to understand that it was a molecular immune system.
When a virus enters a prokaryotic cell (cells possessing the genetic material scattered through the cytoplasm), they catch it and they use it for their own purposes, like MacGyver in a case. For this reason, at the cellular evolution there was no alternative but to create systems to fight them. This is CRISPR: a system that allows you to make "robot portraits" of viruses and use a protein (called Cas9) to identify and neutralize them by cutting down their genetic material.
In 2012, a team of French-American researchers discovered that we could use artificial RNA to trick the protein. Thus, we could make him look for fragments of the genome of the cell and edit them at will. In addition, we discovered that it was the simplest, cheapest and most accurate system we have ever encountered.
It turned out that, with CRISPR, we could do almost anything: to carry out experiments that we could not have imagined until two days ago, to ensure the future of important micro-organisms, to recover extinct species or genetically modify people. In technical terms, we can say that it is "lemon pie" and in the last decade we have devoted more and more resources to understanding it in depth.
What is there to understand? Why do not we use it already?
The problem is that it is a technique with great potential, but it is "in its infancy": we still know very little. You see, CRISPR-Cas9 is a very accurate tool that edits the genome but it is not the only mechanism involved in the process and those who do it are not so precise.
The cells in our bodies have molecular systems that cross DNA in search of possible errors or accidental damage. When they detect one, they try to fix it. This means that, after each edition, several mechanisms check the genome to detect any errors and, if they think, they can "correct" our work: this correction allows to leave the edition no damaged, reset it or introduce very dangerous modifications. . It's a lottery.
This is the big stumbling block of CRISPR. To give us an idea, when we work with mice, the success rate is about 5%. In other words, only 1 of 20 published mice have the desired modification. In science, the solution is simple: the mice that do not "use" in quotation marks are excluded from the search. With humans, we can not do that.
And this is just one of the problems we know (and still need to know). For example, over the past year, studies have been conducted on potential massive allergic reactions that may kill patients. Until we are sure of the dangers of the technique, it is dangerous to go beyond.
But is not that what happened in China?
This is precisely what makes the Chinese case so controversial. The researchers took embryos in perfect health and modified them to avoid any possibility of infection. So many experts call this imprudent. However, he has put on the table a subject that goes beyond.
Now that we have a tool that will allow us to do incredible things with our genes, should we use it? Most experts in bioethics agree that, as if it were a treatment to use, use the tools we have to: Ending human illness and suffering is a good idea
The delicate debate arises when we speak not of healing, but of improving people. Questions accumulateShould we change our children so that they are taller, smarter or smarter? Should we make them stronger, better dancers, skilled with the crafts?
Some think we should do it. Julian Savulescu is a renowned philosopher who advocates "procreative beneficence" – the ethical responsibility of parents to use these techniques to offer their children the best opportunities (also in the genetic field).
In fact, some researchers, such as George Church, a professor of genetics at Harvard University, have lists of genetic modifications that they think are good enough and safe enough to start introducing them into our world. children as soon as possible. But these are just the most daring voices.
Most experts are not in this line?
Neither the majority of experts, nor most of the countries. It is precisely for this reason that China has been chosen for this experience. In the Asian giant, unlike in other countries, it suffices that the ethics committee of a hospital approves the experience (which seems to have been done) so that you can start to work with her. As a result, China has been examining patients with CRISPR since 2015, while the rest of the countries are experiencing delays and delays.
A week ago, we in Xataka published a report in which we talked about all this in terms of a distant future. Nothing of the future, the genetic improvement that we have here.
And what will happen next?
Nobody is clear about this. Most of the reactions of the specialists are motivated by the fear that a failure will degenerate a break in the lines of research. This happened in 2000 after Jesse Gelsinger's death after gene therapy.
But the most problematic of all is that the technology is so simple that even though China has not crossed the Rubicon of genetic improvement, It's a matter of time for someone to do it. How long will it take to see genetically modified soldiers to be stronger and faster? Will the first astronauts traveling to Mars be "normal" human beings or individuals with sufficient adaptations for microgravity? Will it take time for the extremely rich to start using these techniques to maximize their children by creating a genetically improved "new social class"?
Finally, we have more questions than answersbut life will force us to search for them as quickly as possible.
Every week, a new chapter
And remember: every Thursday you will have a new chapter of our podcast Despeja X, in which we will analyze in depth the major technological theme of each week. And if you still want more, we remind you that you also have the rest of the Xataka podcast:
- Captcha (iVoox, iTunes, Pocket Casts, YouTube or Spotify): the great journey through the present and the future of artificial intelligence that seeks to explain in-depth how the "new electricity", the scientific and technological discipline the more exciting of the twentieth century and XXI.
- Insert a part (iVoox, Spotify or iTunes): each program, a super specialist and a technical guest on some of the topics that fascinate us.
- Xataka now (iVoox, Spotify or iTunes): the daily technological news, summed up in the form of some informative minutes.
Thank you for accompanying us!
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