Imagine This: The Science Fiction Becoming Reality#

Imagine you were back in the 1980s. If someone told you then that computers would soon take over everything – shopping, dating, the stock market – that billions of people would connect through a kind of web, and that you’d carry a handheld device way more powerful than old supercomputers, it would sound completely absurd. But guess what? All of that happened. Science fiction became our everyday reality, and now we barely even think about it.

We’re kind of at that same point right now, but with genetic engineering. So, let’s dive in and talk about:

• Where it all started.
• What we’re doing with it today.
• A recent huge breakthrough that’s going to change our lives and what we think of as normal, forever.

A Long History of Engineering Life#

Humans have actually been tinkering with life for thousands of years.

• We used selective breeding to make useful traits stronger in plants and animals.
• We got really good at it, but we didn’t fully understand how it worked.

That changed when we found the actual code of life: Deoxyribonucleic Acid, or DNA.

• DNA is a complex molecule that tells everything alive how to grow, develop, work, and reproduce.
• Information is stored in its structure.
• It uses four types of nucleotides paired up to create a code of instructions.
• If you change those instructions, you change the living thing carrying them.

Early Attempts to Tinker with DNA#

As soon as we discovered DNA, people started trying to mess with it.

• 1960s: Scientists tried zapping plants with radiation. The goal was to cause random changes (mutations) in their genetic code, hoping by chance they’d get a useful plant variation. Sometimes, this actually worked!
• 1970s: Scientists started putting pieces of DNA snippets into bacteria, plants, and animals. This was for studying them, modifying them for research, medicine, farming, and honestly, sometimes just for fun.
  • The first genetically modified animal was born in 1974. This made mice a standard tool for research and has helped save millions of lives.
• 1980s: Genetic engineering went commercial. The very first patent was given for a tiny microbe engineered to soak up oil spills.
  • Today, we use engineered life to make lots of chemicals, like important medical stuff:
    • Life-saving clotting factors.
    • Growth hormones.
    • Insulin.
  • Before this, we had to get these things by harvesting them from animal organs.
• 1994: The first lab-modified food went on sale: the Flavr Savr tomato. It had a much longer shelf life because an extra gene was added that stops an enzyme that causes rotting.
  • (Note: GM food and the arguments around it are a whole big topic that could fill its own video.)
• 1990s: There was a brief try at human engineering. To help with infertility, babies were created using genetic info from 3 humans. They were the first humans ever to have 3 genetic parents.

Genetically Modified Life Around Us Today#

Right now, we have some pretty wild examples of genetically modified (GM) life:

• Super muscled pigs.
• Fast-growing salmon.
• Featherless chicken.
• See-through frogs.
• On the fun side, we made things glow in the dark! You can even buy fluorescent zebrafish for as little as ten dollars.

All this is already super impressive! But until recently, editing genes was incredibly expensive, really complicated, and took a very long time.

The CRISPR Revolution#

That has completely changed now thanks to a revolutionary new technology arriving: CRISPR.

• Overnight, the cost of gene engineering dropped by a massive 99%.
• Experiments that used to take a year now only take a few weeks.
• Basically, anyone with a lab can now do it.

It’s really hard to explain just how huge a technical jump CRISPR is. It genuinely has the power to change humanity forever.

How CRISPR Works: A Bacterial Tale#

So, why this sudden big leap, and how does CRISPR actually work? It comes from a long-running battle between bacteria and viruses.

• Viruses called bacteriophages (or just phages) are bacteria hunters.
• In the ocean, phages kill a huge 40% of bacteria every single day.
• Phages attack by sticking their own genetic code inside the bacteria and taking them over, turning the bacteria into virus factories.
• Bacteria try to fight back, but usually their defenses are too weak.

But sometimes, a bacterium manages to survive an attack. Only if they survive can they power up their most effective anti-virus system: they save a piece of the attacking virus’s DNA.

• They store this virus DNA in their own genetic code, in a special archive section called CRISPR. Here it’s stored safely until it’s needed.
• When that same virus attacks again, the bacterium quickly makes an RNA copy from the CRISPR DNA archive.
• This RNA copy is used to arm a secret weapon: a protein called CAS9.
• The CAS9 protein then starts scanning everything inside the bacterium, looking for signs of the virus invader. It does this by comparing every single bit of DNA it finds to the saved virus sample from the archive.
• When it finds a 100% perfect match, the CAS9 protein gets activated.
• It precisely cuts out the virus DNA, making it useless and protecting the bacterium against the attack.

What’s truly amazing is how precise CAS9 is. Think of it almost like a tiny DNA surgeon.

What Makes CRISPR Revolutionary?#

The big revolution happened when scientists realized they could program the CRISPR system.

• You can essentially give it a copy of any DNA sequence you want to modify.

• Then, you can put this programmed CRISPR system into a living cell.

• If older gene manipulation techniques were like using a paper map, CRISPR is like using a GPS system.

Besides being precise, cheap, and easy to use compared to older methods, CRISPR also lets us:

• Edit live cells.
• Switch genes on and off.
• Target and study specific DNA sequences.

And it works for every single type of cell – tiny microorganisms, plants, animals, or even human cells.

Even with how revolutionary CRISPR is for science, it’s still like a first-generation tool. Even more precise tools are already being made and used right now.

Medical Applications of CRISPR#

CRISPR holds incredible promise for treating diseases.

• HIV:

  • In 2015, scientists used CRISPR in the lab to cut the HIV virus out of living cells taken from patients. This showed that it was possible!
  • Just about a year later (2016), they did a bigger project with rats. These rats had the HIV virus in pretty much all their body cells.
  • By just injecting CRISPR into the rats’ tails, they managed to remove over 50% of the virus from cells throughout their bodies.
  • In maybe a few decades, a CRISPR therapy could potentially cure HIV and other similar viruses (retroviruses) that hide inside human DNA, like Herpes. These could potentially be wiped out this way.

• Cancer:

  • CRISPR could also help us beat one of our toughest enemies: cancer.
  • Cancer happens when cells refuse to die and keep multiplying, while also hiding from our immune system.
  • CRISPR gives us a way to edit your own immune cells and make them much better at hunting down cancer cells.
  • Eventually, getting rid of cancer might mean just getting a couple of shots with a few thousand of your own cells, specially engineered in a lab to heal you for good.
  • The first clinical trial using a CRISPR cancer treatment on actual human patients was given the green light in the US in early 2016.
  • Less than a month later, Chinese scientists announced they would treat lung cancer patients using immune cells modified with CRISPR in August 2016. Things are moving really fast!

• Genetic Diseases:

  • There are thousands of genetic diseases. They range from slightly annoying to deadly or causing decades of suffering.
  • With a powerful tool like CRISPR, we might be able to end this.
  • Over 3,000 genetic diseases are caused by just one wrong “letter” in your DNA code.
  • We’re already working on a changed version of the CAS9 protein that is made to change just that single incorrect letter, potentially fixing the disease in the cell.
  • In maybe ten or twenty years, we could possibly cure thousands of these diseases forever.

Beyond the Individual: Modifying the Human Gene Pool#

However, all those medical uses have something in common: they only affect the individual person being treated, and the changes die with them. This is unless you use the technology on reproductive cells (like sperm or eggs) or very early embryos.

But CRISPR can and probably will be used for much more than just fixing individuals.

• Designer Babies: It can be used to create modified humans, often called “designer babies.”
• This will mean slow but irreversible changes to the entire human gene pool.

The ability to edit the genes of a human embryo already exists.

• The technology is still new and developing, but people have already tried it twice.
• In 2015 and 2016, Chinese scientists experimented with human embryos. They were partially successful on their second attempt.
• These experiments showed the enormous challenges we still face in gene editing embryos, but also that scientists are actively working on solving them.
• This feels a lot like the early days of computers in the 1970s. Better versions are definitely coming.

The Slippery Slope of Human Enhancement#

Regardless of how you feel about genetic engineering, it’s going to affect you.

• Modified humans could alter the genes of our whole species because their engineered traits will pass down to their children and could spread over generations. This could slowly change humanity’s entire gene pool.

It won’t happen all at once.

• The first “designer babies” will not be overly designed.
• They’ll most likely be created to get rid of a deadly genetic disease that runs in a family.
• As the technology gets better and more refined, more and more people may start arguing that not using genetic modification is wrong (unethical), because it condemns children to preventable suffering and death and denies them the cure.

But here’s the thing: as soon as the first engineered child is born, a door opens that can’t be closed anymore.

• Early on, things like just changing looks (vanity traits) will mostly be avoided.
• But as genetic modification becomes more accepted and we learn way more about our genetic code, the temptation will grow.
• If you can make your offspring immune to Alzheimer’s, why wouldn’t you also give them an enhanced metabolism?
• Why not throw in perfect eyesight?
• How about increasing height or improving muscular structure?
• Ensuring full hair?
• And what about giving your child the gift of extraordinary intelligence?

Huge changes often happen because of the combined personal decisions of millions of individuals. This is what’s sometimes called a slippery slope. Modified humans could become the new standard.

Facing Our Biggest Foe: Aging?#

But as engineering gets more common and we learn more, we might tackle the single biggest risk factor for death: aging.

• Roughly two-thirds of the 150,000 people who die each day will die from causes related to getting older.

Right now, we think aging is caused by damage building up in our cells (like DNA breaks), and the systems responsible for fixing those wearing off over time. But there are also specific genes that directly affect aging.

• A combination of genetic engineering and other therapies could stop or slow down aging, maybe even reverse it.
• We know from nature that there are animals immune to aging. Maybe we could even borrow a few genes for ourselves.
• Some scientists even think biological aging could be something that eventually just stops being a thing.
• We would still die at some point, but instead of doing so in hospitals at age 90, we might be able to spend a few thousand years with our loved ones.

Research into this is just starting (in its infancy), and many scientists are understandably unsure (skeptical) about the end of aging. The challenges are enormous and maybe it is unachievable, but it is conceivable that the people alive today might be the first to profit from effective anti-aging therapy. All we might need is for someone to convince a smart billionaire to make it their next problem to solve.

Societal Changes and Challenges#

On a bigger scale, having a modified population could certainly solve many problems.

• Engineered humans might be better equipped to cope with high-energy food, potentially eliminating many diseases of civilization like obesity.
• With a modified immune system that has a kind of built-in library of potential threats, we might become immune to most diseases that haunt us today.
• Looking even further into the future, we could engineer humans to be equipped for extended space travel and to cope with different conditions on other planets. This would be extremely helpful in keeping us alive in our hostile universe.

Still, a few major challenges await us. Some are about the technology itself, and others are about what’s right or wrong (ethical) challenges.

• Many of you watching will feel uncomfortable and fear that we will create a world in which we will reject non-perfect humans.
• There’s fear we’ll pre-select features and qualities based on our idea of what’s healthy or desirable.

The tricky part? We are already living in a world like this, to some extent.

• Tests for dozens of genetic diseases or complications have become standard for pregnant women in much of the world.
• Often the mere suspicion of a genetic defect can lead to the end of a pregnancy.
• Take Down syndrome for example, one of the most common genetic defects. In Europe, about 92% of all pregnancies where it’s detected are terminated.
• The decision to terminate pregnancy is incredibly personal, but it’s important to acknowledge the reality that we are pre-selecting humans based on medical conditions.
• There is also no use in pretending this will change, so we have to act carefully and respectfully as we advance the technology and can make more and more selections.

Technical Hurdles and Darker Possibilities#

But none of this will happen soon. As powerful as CRISPR is (and it is powerful), it’s not infallible yet.

• Wrong edits still happen.
• Unknown errors can occur anywhere in the DNA and might go unnoticed.
• The gene edit might achieve the desired result – disabling a disease – but also might accidentally trigger unwanted changes.
• We just don’t know enough yet about the complex interplay of our genes to avoid unpredictable consequences.
• Working on accuracy and monitoring methods is a major concern as the first human trials begin.

And since we’ve discussed a possible positive future, there are also darker visions too.

• Imagine what a state like North Korea could do if they embraced genetic engineering. Could a state cement its rule forever by forcing gene editing on their subjects?
• What would stop a totalitarian regime from engineering an army of modified super soldiers?
• It is doable in theory.
• Scenarios like this one are far, far off into the future, if they ever become possible at all. But the basic proof of concept for genetic engineering like this already exists today. The technology really is that powerful.

Moving Forward Responsibly#

While this might be a tempting reason to ban genetic editing and related research, that would certainly be a mistake.

• Banning human genetic engineering would only lead to the science wandering off to a place with jurisdiction and rules that we are uncomfortable with.
• Only by participating can we make sure that further research is guided by caution, reason, oversight, and transparency.

Do you feel uncomfortable now? Most of us have something “wrong” with them. In the future that lies ahead of us, would we have been allowed to exist?

The technology is certainly a bit scary, but we have a lot to gain. Genetic engineering might just be a step in the natural evolution of intelligent species in the universe.

• We might end disease.
• We could extend our life expectancy by centuries.
• We could travel to the stars.

There’s no need to think small when it comes to this topic!

Whatever your opinion on genetic engineering, the future is approaching no matter what. What has been insane science fiction is about to become our new reality – a reality full of opportunities and challenges.

Supporting More Explanations#

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If you want to learn more about CRISPR, the sources and further reading are linked in the original description (from the video).

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