How can CRISPR-Cas systems in genome editing positively impact society?

There are several types of CRISPR-Cas systems (like Cas9, Cas12, Cas13), each with unique mechanisms and specificities. This diversity allows for a range of applications in genetic engineering. The CRISPR-Cas system has evolved as a bacterial adaptive immune system. It's fascinating to note that this system has evolved in bacteria and archaea over millions of years to protect them from viral infections and plasmid transfer. The CRISPR arrays function as a genetic memory bank. When a bacterium survives a virus attack, it captures a piece of the invader's DNA and incorporates it into its own genome within these CRISPR arrays. This serves as a historical record and allows the bacterium to recognize and mount a faster response

Imagine a blank letter in a game of Scrabble. It's the same principle with CRISPR-Cas systems. These are black bacteria that are capable of changing certain DNA codons depending on the codons that we want to give them. Let's take an example: E.coli bacteria multiply very quickly because they can communicate with each other! Thanks to the CRISPR-Cas system, I can modify their DNA so that they can no longer communicate with each other and therefore reproduce. But be careful, there are also anti-CRISPRs (protein groups found in bacteriophages) and they fight against CRISPR-Cas systems.

We can edit genomes for different manners: some are very ethical, and others not...So it's really important to follow laws and regulations from the country where we do the experiments. For example a chinese scientist, He Jiankui had modified the DNA of twin girls to prevent them from being infected with HIV, or some biohackers tried to modify their gender with CRISPR and polymers. Others had the authorization to create some human-animal chimera, and research can be made in embryology as in the movie GATTACA. The possibilities are endless, and we are just at the beginning of this adventure.

In my research, I have leveraged the power of CRISPR to knock out multiple genes simultaneously. This method has helped me to identify how these genes interact with each other in complex illnesses like cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. Since these diseases are usually caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, understanding the interaction between genes is crucial to comprehending the disease progression. By using CRISPR to make multiple edits to cell lines, I can create a more realistic representation of the disease phenotype and gain a clearer understanding of how the disease operates in reality.

CRISPR-Cas are much easier to prototype vs other genetic editing methods. They rely on using template RNA strands as a mechanism of targeting your edit. The beauty of this, is RNA synthesis is well established and relatively inexpensive, allowing researchers to get to an edit much faster. On the more operational end, the steps to editing a gene with a CRISPR kit are far less error prone than prior methods. At the end of the day CRISPR is a really good combo of cost and simplicity, which is why is has seen such rapid adoption.

We have reached a point of experimentation never before reached. This will only continue in the future, and what we cannot achieve today may become a reality in a few years. But what are the limits that should not be exceeded? How will these new technologies be regulated? Who will decide legally and ethically what is right or wrong? Will international agreements need to be concluded? If at the American federal and state levels, the states cannot agree on subjects as important as the right to abortion, how will they be able to align themselves on projects as innovative as CRISPR-Cas systems? What could be the excesses of such an enterprise? We need to think about it now.

There are technical problems, even before we talk about the ethics of it: 1. Fidelity - they are not very precise. Thermodynamics doesn't allow it to be perfect. So we have to deal with noise; in biological systems, noise could be a dangerous mutation. 2. Efficiency - they are hard to deliver to the places and cells you want to edit. That's one of the main challenges of CRISPR therapeutics today. 3. Bio containment - if you have a supercharged bug, and you don't want it out, it will take a lot of effort to make it inescapable.

Honestly, if you are interested in CRISPR-Cas systems you can buy a kit, but it's better to study genetics in the same time to have the whole photography ;-)

Each country has its own laws and regulations about the CRISPR-Cas system. For example, in the United States it's really easy to buy a kit and do experiments in your kitchen! But in France it’s forbidden if you don’t work in research or in science education. So it’s very important to know the law in biotechnology.