21AR26-15

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AR 26:15 - CRISPR and "the future of the human race"

In this issue:

GENETICS - "the next big thing in science"

Apologia Report 26:15 (1,520)
April 15, 2021

GENETICS

"By honoring CRISPR, a virus-fighting system found in nature, in the midst of a virus pandemic, the Nobel committee reminded us how curiosity-driven basic research can end up having very practical applications. CRISPR and COVID are speeding our entry into a life-science era. Molecules are becoming the new microchips."

Before the collaboration encouraged by the need to respond to COVID, things were not as positive. In 2017 a genetic scientist complained: "Everything I get from or send to a colleague at another academic institution involves a complex legal agreement whose purpose is not to promote science but to protect the university's ability to profit from hypothetical inventions that might arise from scientists doing what we're supposed to do - share our work with each other (473). ...

"The sense of urgency about COVID also brushed back the gate-keeper role played by expensive, peer-reviewed, paywall-protected scholarly journals such as Science and Nature" (474). The effort to develop CRISPR "involved microbe-hunters working with geneticists, structural biologists, biochemists, and computer geeks" (475).

Walter Isaacson, author of the above (taken from The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race [1]), concludes: "If I had to [live my life] all over again ... I would have focused far more on the life sciences [to] understand the code of life." We have strong opinions about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in our food - "but it's even better if you know what a gene is.... (478)

"The supposed promise of CRISPR is that we may someday be able to pick [the] traits we want in our children and [consequently] in all of our descendants. ...

"I pondered how this promise of CRISPR might also be its peril. It took nature millions of years to weave together three billion base pairs of DNA in a complex and occasionally imperfect way to permit all of the wondrous diversity within our species. Are we right to think we can now come along and edit that...?" (479-80)

Code Breaker will go a long way to help you understand genes - as well as the CRISPRs made from them. This reminds me (RP) of the dots and dashes in Morse code and the 1's and 0's in each byte of computer code. However, every strand of DNA is submicroscopic and far more complex.

Isaacson's focus in this book includes "the competition for prizes and patents" and how it may have "undermined collaboration" in science (xix).

The first page of Part 1 (“The Origins of Life”) quotes the creation story in Genesis 2:8–9, but never discusses it. Genetic design is described as "too beautiful to not be true," but that's as far as Isaacson comes to linking all this to the Creator. The "big questions" about life and its origins are listed (8), but also not discussed. At one point Isaacson even wonders if the gene's amazing design had "come from outer space" (47).

Much of the book covers Doudna's career experiences within a discussion of the significance and promise of genetic engineering as she eventually wins the Nobel Prize for her efforts. A big part of this is a clear explanation of the genetic structure's intricacies, along with the roles and interactions of its components. The world of related scientific research is described in terms of its territories, conflicts, infighting and litigation.

Prior to this reading, I had imagined the CRISPR gene-editing device to be some sort of high-tech machine, perhaps the size of a microwave oven. What I learned is that CRISPR is the term for "clustered repeated sequences" of DNA (xiv) and that every biological entity is made up of "essentially protein-wrapped packages that contain and seek to replicate [their] nucleic acids" - DNA and RNA (17). Inheritable (germline) genetic editing gets most of the attention (5), but non-inheritable (somatic) editing "will be, at least for now, the most common and welcome use of CRISPR" (6).

Many related ethical considerations are discussed throughout the book. Europe (with the exception of Germany) is described as initially being much more conservative than America (278). "Today the public is concerned about commercial development, because there is less oversight" (288). Harvard psychology professor Steven Pinker weighs in, bluntly: "The primary moral goal for today's bioethics can be summarized in a single sentence. ... Get out of the way." He objects to "sweeping principles such as 'dignity,' 'sacredness,' or 'social justice....' "The last thing we need is a lobby of so-called ethicists" (291).

The ill-advised rush to be the first person in the world to edit the germline of a human embryo by Chinese scientist He Jiankui <www.bit.ly/2OkIUjI> is covered in chapter 37. This is followed by more bioethics discussion. "Does empathy depend on believing that but for the grace of God, or the randomness of the natural lottery, we could have been born with a different set of endowments?" (336)

Will social-justice theory dictate it's OK to genetically discriminate in some cases and not others? "Call this the continuum conundrum," with ethicists on different sides making and debunking distinctions (337). A single gene determines skin color (248). Want it changed?

The US Department of Defense "has a project, in conjunction with Doudna's lab, to study how to create genetically enhanced soldiers" (351). Apparently Russia is interested in this, too (294).

In an example of how volatile Isaacson considers *public* opinion on related topics, he writes: "There is a truism about [social media]: any discussion descends to shouting 'Nazi!' within seven responses. In the case of the gene-editing threads, it was more like the third response" (356).

"Evolution has been working toward optimizing the human genome for 3.85 billion years. ... Do we really think that some small group of human genome tinkerers could do better without all sorts of unintended consequences?" says NIH director Francis Collins, "who is not an atheist" (364). "A looming ethical issue ... is that gene editing could exacerbate, and even encode, inequality in society" (375).

Following seven chapters that discuss "Coronavirus," a chapter focuses on "Cures" which includes a line about planned genetic-engineering solutions that "will be able to treat and protect people without having to activate the body's own immune system, which can be quirky and delicate" (457). (Before long we may also find that last phrase is quite an understatement.)

Other reviewers add:

* - "A magisterial biography of the co-discoverer of what has been called the greatest advance in biology since the discovery of DNA. For the first third of Isaacson's latest winner, the author focuses on the life and career of Jennifer Doudna (b. 1964). Raised by academic parents who encouraged her fascination with science, she flourished in college and went on to earn a doctorate in biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology from Harvard. After fellowships and postdoc programs at the University of Colorado and Yale, she joined the faculty at the University of California in 2002. In 2006, she learned about CRISPR, a system of identical repeated DNA sequences in bacteria copied from certain viruses. Others had discovered that this was a defense mechanism - CRISPR DNA generates enzymes that chop up the DNA of the infecting virus. With collaborators, she discovered how CRISPR operates and invented a much simpler technique for cutting DNA and editing genes. Although known since the 1970s, 'genetic engineering' was a complex, tedious process. CRISPR made it much simpler. Formally accepted by the editors of Science <www.bit.ly/32pXhXv> in 2012, [her] co-authored paper galvanized the scientific establishment and led to a torrent of awards, culminating in the 2020 Nobel Prize in chemistry. At this point, Isaacson steps back, keeping Doudna as the central character but describing the rush to apply gene editing to altering life and curing diseases, the intense debate over its morality, and the often shameful quarrels over credit and patents. A diligent historian and researcher, Isaacson lucidly explains CRISPR and refuses to pass it off as a far-fetched magic show. Some scientific concepts (nuclear fission, evolution) are easy to grasp, but not CRISPR. Using charts, analogies, and repeated warnings for readers to pay attention, the author describes a massively complicated operation in which humans can program heredity. Those familiar with college-level biology will have a better time, but nobody will regret the reading experience. A vital book about the next big thing in science - and yet another top-notch biography from Isaacson." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

* - Isaacson "depicts science at its most exhilarating in this lively biography of Jennifer Doudna, the winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize in chemistry for her work on the CRISPR system of gene editing. ... Doudna grew up in Hawaii, where she ... 'developed a wide-ranging curiosity about how we humans fit into creation.' Praising her sharp mix of curiosity and competitiveness, Isaacson tracks her role in the race to develop CRISPR technology..., explores the promises of the technique (such as potential cures for sickle-cell anemia and cancer) and describes fears that it might herald a world of genetically engineered 'designer babies.'" -- Publisher's Weekly (starred review)

* - Isaacson "does an admirable job of explaining science in accessible terms and also focusing on the human side of the story. Throughout the work, he sketches quick portraits of the dozens of researchers, scientists, and business people involved with CRISPR from the beginning. Also, given Jennifer Doudna's recent Nobel Prize win for CRISPR, readers will doubtless want to hear more about her life and the attribution controversy that often attends such awards. ... VERDICT Similar to his previous works, Isaacson's latest is another absorbing story of scientific discovery. -- Library Journal

* - "Isaacson is truly an immersive tour guide, combining the energy of a TED Talk with the intimacy of a series of fireside chats.... For readers seeking to understand the many twists, turns and nuances of the biotechnology revolution, there's no better place to turn than The Code Breaker." - BookPage

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SOURCES: Monographs

1 - The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race, by Walter Isaacson (Simon & Schuster, 2021, hardcover, 560 pages) <www.bit.ly/39BrNBz>

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