What is rewriting DNA about? If I break my arm because I was clumsy it was clearly my own fault. Fortunately, it can heal over time. But what about genetic diseases and illnesses? Those who are affected by that clearly never did anything wrong to fall sick because of something in their genes.
Rewriting DNA in order to augment the human body and life is a controversial subject and there are of course pros and cons on rewriting DNA code. Yet, perhaps someone who is affected by a genetic disease should have a louder voice than someone is not affected by the same?
Addressing the root cause of genetic health problems
In the video feature below you can watch the most recent TED Talk by David R. Liu, chemist, and biologist from Harvard University. The research has been making a lot of progress and they are undertaking crucial steps in genome editing.
In the video description, they state, “if CRISPR proteins are molecular scissors, programmed to cut specific DNA sequences, then base editors are pencils, capable of directly rewriting one DNA letter into another.” This exact type of progress could help us reach the next level or treating diseases and it sounds very promising, even though it is not clear how long this could possibly take to achieve.
YouTube: Can we cure genetic diseases by rewriting DNA? | David R. Liu (TED Talks)
Photo credit: The feature image has been taken by Bret Hartman at TED2019: Bigger Than Us – April 15 – 19, 2019, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
