A new book, “Editing Humanity: The Crispr Revolution and the New Era of Genome Editing”, by Kevin Davies lays out the story that led to developing the revolutionary CRISPR gene-editing technology.
It describes the development of the technology involved clearly and succinctly, from the beginnings of gene sequencing to the 2012 discovery that an ancient bacterial immune system could be adapted and become the basis of the CRISPR gene-editing technology.
It also describes the misuse of the technology, such as with early gene therapy being done outside of the US on girls and young women to avoid US oversight. And despite a 2015 consensus that human sperm, eggs or embryos should not be edited, a scientist announced in 2018 that he had used gene editing on a pair of twin girls to confer HIV protection.
The book however does not address how ethical issues should be resolved, such as releasing genetically engineered mosquitoes into the environment to suppress malaria.
Source: Nature
