Caroline McGrath
9/15/19
Current Event 2
Stein, Rob. “CRISPR Gene-Editing May Offer Path To Cure For HIV, First Published Report
In 1987, the first step to genetic engineering was made with the discovery of CRISPR. CRISPR, or the protein Cas9, acts like DNA scissors, cutting out and adding in different DNA sequences based on needs. For the past four decades, scientists have worked tirelessly to try and use CRISPR to manipulate DNA in order to protect against terminal diseases. And finally, in the past few days, scientists seemed to take a break to celebrate the success of one of these procedures. Chinese scientists have recently published a journal detailing the CRISPR treatment on an HIV-positive man. Although the treatment did not result in the complete removal of the AIDS virus, it was able to make the DNA change that was intended, without any side effects (a huge development). It inserted a CCR5 gene (which makes people naturally immune to HIV) in hopes that it would disable the gateway that HIV uses to destroy important immune system cells. The scientists call the result “promising” because of the apparent lack of danger (granted the journal is only published after 19 months of trial). The CCR5 was also used in a “reckless” procedure by He Jiankui last year, when he implanted them into the embryos of twin girls. The breakthrough is amist multiple different trials with the genome, including the treatment for blindness, blood disorders, and cancer. When the experiment was underway, the HIV-positive man also had lymphoblastic leukemia, which was found in remission after the transplant, another promising effect of the procedure. The approach did not completely cure the man of HIV, because only 5% of his white blood cells were implanted with the CRISPR, but it is bound to be 100% soon enough.
The threat of diseases and disorders such as blindness, sickle cell anemia, and cancer impact countless people. Almost every single person in modern society knows at least one person carrying these diseases, with the majority knowing more. And this is not where CRISPR stops, CRISPR has the possibility of changing the DNA to almost every genetic disease. The impact of this new biotechnology would be immeasurable, and with this breakthrough not only promising the end to HIV, but also showing signs pointing towards a possible cure to cancer. It is monumentous, and this is just a scratch on the surface.
Personally, I found this article to lack important details. First off, the article never mentioned what CRISPR was, or what HIV was. Because of the importance of both of these things to the article, and experiment in general, I found it appalling that they would not provide an explanation or background to either of these topics. Secondly, I found the article to be mostly one sided. There was nothing that gave information about the danger of CRISPR. I read more about the danger of this biotechnology and found the risk factor to equal the development. I think the author needed to give both a brief description about the two topics it was writing about, and give the readers an idea of how dangerous these procedures are. Through the lack of detail in the article, I found there to be multiple positives; starting with the level of simplicity the author wrote with. I am not the most informed person on human genetics, yet the article was easy to follow. I also found it more interesting when the author included other experiments and future experiments using CRISPR, it made me want to read more about these procedures, but also look forward the seemingly bright future CRISPR has to offer.
Stein, Rob. “CRISPR Gene-Editing May Offer Path To Cure For HIV, First Published Report Shows.” NPR, NPR, 11 Sept. 2019, www.npr.org/sections/health-
ReplyDeleteshots/2019/09/11/759369190/crispr-gene-editing-may-offer-path-to-cure-for-hiv-first-
published-report-shows.
Caroline’s review on CRISPR was very informative and well analyzed. Caroline discussed the background information on this new genetic engineering tool and the significance of its discovery to our society today. Caroline also discussed the many examples of CRISPR in action, including the case of twin embryos and a man with HIV. Without a great knowledge of genetics, I was able to follow along very well and understand the complicated process this tool entails. The second paragraph of this review was very well written also. Caroline related CRISPR to the future of our society. By suggesting that we all know someone with a devastating disease, made the issue very prevalent and the conclusion that more meaningful. I also found Caroline’s critique of the article very accurate and would agree that it failed to present the immense downsides to using CRISPR, including the ethics behind it.
Despite the great deal of information included in this review, I didn’t find that it was organized in the best way. There were a few grammatical errors and the sentence structure throughout the review made reading a bit unclear. In addition, I would have liked to see a bigger description of CRISPR’s effect on the HIV virus and if and when it will be tested. However, the positive aspects of the review far outweigh these suggestions.
The idea of gene editing can be an exciting advancement to our future, but also a scary one. The ethical debate surrounding this topic is immense and also poses concerns for our future. However, the scientific significance is far greater. It’s simplicity and efficiency makes gene editing that more successful. If debilitating diseases can be aided with CRISPR, there is hope for the future for diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's.
I found that Caroline’s review of “CRISPR Gene-Editing May Offer Path To Cure For HIV, First Published Report Shows” was very informative, and highlighted the importance of the benefits that could arise from this technology. She briefly described the history behind CRISPR development, as well as explaining the function of the tool. She smoothly transitioned into discussing the victory of a major breakthrough in which the technology was successfully used to treat an HIV-positive man without any side effects(McGrath). She discussed various illnesses that could be treated with the technology as it becomes more developed: “The breakthrough is amist multiple different trials with the genome, including the treatment for blindness, blood disorders, and cancer”(McGrath). She also provided a point with which the reader could connect themselves with to better understand the enormity of this breakthrough; “The threat of diseases… impact countless people. Almost every single person in modern society knows at least one person carrying these diseases”(McGrath). Additionally, I felt that she was justified in her criticism of the article’s bias and lack of information on the dangers and possible negative side effects of the technology.
ReplyDeleteCaroline’s review did, however, have a few weaknesses. Her review contained a few grammatical mistakes, and I felt that her use of parentheses to include various information was disruptive to the flow of the review. By using parentheses to include information signified that it was secondary information that was inserted at the last minute, and less important than the rest of the review’s contents. She could have expanded on that information and explained its significance, such as when she tacked on “(a huge development)” at the end of a sentence describing the success of a CRISPR experiment. Why was it a huge development? What kind of issues did CRISPR have prior to this so-called “huge development”?
All in all, the information and success described in this article is an exciting development that offers hope for the future. The CRISPR technology gives humanity a chance to eliminate a multitude of genetic diseases and to increase the health and quality of life of those who have access to the technology. And yet, despite all of the benefits that may come from this budding technology, it also brings into question a multitude of ethical debates, and a high risk that the technology may be abused in the future as it becomes safer and more developed.
Amanda Troy
ReplyDeleteAP Biology
Current Event #3
9/24/19
Stein, Rob. “CRISPR Gene-Editing May Offer Path To Cure For HIV, First Published Report Shows.” NPR, NPR, 11 Sept. 2019, www.npr.org/sections/health-
shots/2019/09/11/759369190/crispr-gene-editing-may-offer-path-to-cure-for-hiv-first-
Published-report-shows.
I read Caroline’s current event where she discusses CRISPR, the first step to genetic engineering. Caroline discusses a journal recently published by Chinese scientists where CRISPR was treated on an HIV positive man. This is of much importance because while the treatment did not resolve in the complete removal of AIDS, this is an important development as it was able to make the DNA change that was intended, lacking any side effects. Additionally, the man, who had lymphoblastic leukemia, was found in remission, just another promising result of the CRISPR treatment. Secondly, Caroline notes an important procedure using the CCR5 gene. In the procedure, He Jianku implanted them into the embryos of twin girls. This is extremely important because the breakthrough is amidst several different trials with the genome, such as treatments for blindness and blood disorders. Finally, Caroline discusses CRISPR’s possible ability to change DNA into every genetic disease. The impacts of this new technology would be extremely impactful on our world as the threat of major diseases and disorders affect countless people. CRISPR may even be a possible cure for cancer in the future.
Caroline did an outstanding job discussing CRISPR technology and the profound impacts it will have across the globe. Caroline could have more thoroughly described the procedure involving the implantation of the CCR5 gene on the embryos. That section of the current event was a bit brief and undetailed. I also think Caroline could have went into further detail on the major illnesses CRISPR would be attacking, more particularly, HIV. However, she did note that the article she read was lacking information on HIV, which is disappointing.
I really enjoyed reading Caroline’s current event about CRISPR and the profound positive impacts it will have across the world. I love reading articles about new technology or scientific discoveries that will be very relevant in the future. CRISPR is especially intriguing because it has the ability to completely change the world for the better. This article was very eye-opening as well because I am now educated on a new technology that will have profound impacts on the health of humans, something that is relevant to the entire human race. There is so much to look forward to in the future as science advances and new discoveries take place.