Home > Author > Jennifer A. Doudna
41 " The ability to activate or interfere with gene expression is nearly as powerful as the ability to edit the genes themselves. "
― Jennifer A. Doudna , A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution
42 " Labradors are prone to some thirty genetic conditions, 60 percent of golden retrievers succumb to cancer, beagles are commonly afflicted with epilepsy, and Cavalier King Charles spaniels suffer from seizures and persistent pain due to their deformed skulls.66 These poignant medical problems haven’t kept humans from letting tastes dictate the genotype and phenotype of humankind’s best friend. "
43 " Scholars and journalists have already started dreaming that CRISPR might be used to create mythical creatures like winged dragons by editing the genes of Komodo dragons,70 noting in a prominent bioethics journal that, while basic physics would prevent them from breathing fire, “a very large reptile that looks at least somewhat like the European or Asian dragon (perhaps even with flappable if not flyable wings) could be someone’s target of opportunity.”71 "
44 " Animal research is indispensable to the study of human disease, whether it’s used to confirm the genetic causes of certain disorders, to evaluate potential drugs, or to test the efficacy of medical interventions like surgery or cell therapy. "
45 " The potential utility of therapeutic gene editing goes far beyond simply reverting mutated genes back to their healthy states. Some scientists are employing CRISPR in human cells to block viral infections, just like this molecular defense system naturally evolved to do in bacteria. In fact, the first clinical trials to use gene editing are aimed at curing HIV/AIDS by editing a patient’s own immune cells so the virus can’t penetrate them. And in another landmark effort, the first human life was saved by gene editing in combination with another emerging breakthrough in medicine: cancer immunotherapy, in which the body’s own immune system is trained to hunt down and kill cancerous cells. "
46 " Will focusing on de-extinction and designer pets distract us from protecting existing endangered species or mistreated and neglected companion animals? "
47 " this first meeting—which we ultimately called the IGI Forum on Bioethics— "
48 " Bacterial cells have even developed methods to sense an oncoming infection and commit suicide before it can progress—a selfless way of protecting the greater bacterial community. "
49 " specific genes. All you had to do was select the desired twenty-letter DNA sequence to edit and then convert that sequence into a matching twenty-letter code of RNA. Once inside the cell, the RNA would couple with its DNA match using base pairing, and Cas9 would slice apart the DNA. "
50 " clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats— "
51 " Using gene editing, researchers at Calyxt easily addressed the problem in Ranger Russet potatoes: "
52 " It amazes me to realize that we are on the cusp of a new era in the history of life on earth—an age in which humans exercise an unprecedented level of control over the genetic composition of the species that co-inhabit our planet. It won’t be long before CRISPR allows us to bend nature to our will in the way that humans have dreamed of since prehistory. "
53 " Every person experiences roughly one million mutations throughout the body per second,18 and in a rapidly proliferating organ like the intestinal epithelium, nearly every single letter of the genome will have been mutated at least once in at least one cell by the time an individual turns sixty. "
54 " Few technologies are inherently good or bad; what matter is how we use them. And when it comes to CRISPR, the possibilities of this new technology - good or bad - are limited only by our imaginations. "
55 " CRISPR offers the greatest hope to treat monogenic genetic diseases—those caused by a single mutated gene. "
56 " The human genome also includes a separate mini-chromosome—just sixteen thousand letters of DNA—located in mitochondria, the energy-producing batteries of the cell. Unlike the genetic code found in other chromosomes, mitochondrial DNA is inherited exclusively from the mother. "
57 " The mosquito causes more human suffering than any other creature on earth. Mosquito-borne diseases—malaria, dengue virus, West Nile virus, yellow fever virus, Chikungunya virus, Zika virus, and many others—have an annual death toll in excess of one million. "
58 " I hope these reflections will help advance the conversation about germline editing—and help us to decide whether, and how, we will intervene in the evolutionary journey of our species. "
59 " that it was fantastically easy to target specific genes. All you had to do was select the desired twenty-letter DNA sequence to edit and then convert that sequence into a matching twenty-letter code of RNA. Once inside the cell, the RNA would couple with its DNA match using base pairing, and Cas9 would slice apart the DNA. "
60 " Academics and physicians alike were hailing CRISPR as the holy grail of gene manipulation: a quick, easy, and accurate way to fix defects in genetic code. "