Using recently discovered technologies, we can modify our own genetic code with staggering levels of precision, allowing us to do things we have never been able to before. Genetic Engineering, an article in the Gale library is one that goes over how genetic engineering, the science of changing the DNA of living organisms, works. People have been influencing the genes of organisms for thousands of years, using techniques like selective breeding and grafting to make living creatures inherit traits that are useful to us. Recently, we have come up with a more direct method: modifying the DNA of organisms directly by inserting segments of genetic code directly into the genome of animals. There are two main methods of this sort of modification: infecting the host organism with a hijacked virus that contains the desired gene, which leads to the virus planting the gene into the host, as in nature, viruses spread by inserting their genetic material into organisms . The second, more recent development is the use of the CRISPR-Cas9 protein (which will be referred to as CRISPR for the remainder of this essay), which is a tool derived from a bacterial defense against viruses, which in its original use case, cuts out the RNA of the virus once the virus attempts to infect the bacteria with its genetic code. When this protein is controlled in a lab setting, it allows the modification of genetic code with significantly more precision, since the protein used can be more finely manipulated. The use of CRISPR is met with much public opposition and is strictly regulated by many governments. Genetic engineering, especially in the form of CRISPR is a technology that has considerable potential to help cure disease, potential that doesn’t currently exist anywhere else. If regulators helped fund research into this technology, it could potentially allow numerous life saving medical treatments to be invented.
In using this tool, the necessity of it becomes obvious. Its ability to permanently cure genetic disease is unmatched, because there are only the two existing methods of directly modifying genes: by using CRISPR, or by using a hijacked virus to deliver the gene into cells using the virus’ natural ability to insert its own genetic material into a host. A treatment for hemophilia, a genetic disorder that stops clotting, uses such a virus to implant the gene that fixes this disorder. This treatment vastly improves the quality of life of hemophiliacs, since they no longer have to fear scratches that would ordinarily be fatal.
The use of CRISPR in medical treatment is a potent solution, a single intravenous infusion is all it takes to cure targeted ailments. In the right hands, it has the ability to alleviate significant human suffering. Sickle-cell anemia, a genetic disease that causes attacks where red blood cells clump up and tear, causing strokes and shortening life spans has recently had a cure discovered using CRISPR technology. With a single dose, people afflicted with the disease are cured. This treatment, Casgevy is causing many lives to be saved that would not ordinarily be, curing this disease and allowing people to live lives where they do not have to live in fear of dying of an attack.
Now, while gene therapies are potent remedies, they are not without their drawbacks. Errors in implementation of these therapies, like the wrong genes being used, can cause unwanted mutations, or worse, cancers. Without careful identification and delivery of the donated gene, things can absolutely go awry. However, these side effects can and are being planned for before treatment. The FDA’s trial procedures are far beyond comprehensive enough to catch any side effects. It has taken 12 years of clinical trials for Casgevy to be cleared for human trials, the cost for the first three phases of the trials frequently exceeds the tens of millions, while the fourth often goes over the $50 million mark. With all of these measures in place, the pace of research has slowed down significantly, the high cost and time barriers making it hard for pharmaceutical companies to justify the investment without passing on the cost to the consumer. A dose of Casgevy costs $2.1 million. Of course, the patient is not often the one who pays, but insurance companies often try hard to find a way out of paying. If the government could help subsidize research into gene therapies, it is likely that the reduced cost of developing these treatments could increase the amount of people working on this, and therefore lead to more treatments.
There is also the concern that the misuse of this technology could let people manipulate their genes to make themselves smarter, and give them the power to achieve world domination by using their superior intelligence. There are a couple of factors that keep this possibility from becoming probability. The technology’s cost is one, the multiple millions needed to fund a project of this scale would prevent someone from creating many of these Übermensch. Another is that there is currently no single gene that is associated with intelligence. Many researchers suggest there may be many genes responsible for intelligence, of which all are currently unknown to science. Finding the genes responsible is unlikely to be an easy endeavor. Finally, there have been shown to be links between higher IQ and certain mental disorders, meaning that it is possible that a superhumanly smart person might have mental illnesses that prevent them from functioning in society, which would probably make it difficult to take over the world.
In sum, governmental funding of gene therapies is necessary because the potential benefits of this technology vastly outweigh its costs. There are many lives that could be saved or vastly improved in their quality, with fatal or chronic diseases, like genetic disorders and cancers potentially being curable with the use of this technology. The chances of you or a person that you know developing cancer in their lifetime is one in five. Helping researchers fund their cures could save the life of you or someone you know.