What is CRISPR technology and why should you care?
The Human Genome Project (HGP) successfully
mapped the entire human genome in a collaboration of twenty universities
between 1990 and 2003. Today, fifteen years after the project culminated we are
seeing the emergence of CRISPR technology, (clustered regularly interspaced
short palindromic repeats) also referred to as gene editing. This has been in
many ways a buzzword or ever since HGP was terminated, but the recent
development has enabled us to have a much more concrete discussion about what
we can expect from this technology, in terms of functionality, and what
business implications this might have.
But first, letmetellyouaboutCRISPR
CRISPR is as mentioned gene-editing. The
technology allows you to go into cells and change their DNA, similar to editing
an Excel formula, or removing a hashtag from your Instagram post. You can enter
the cells and “switch of” the genes that disposes you to certain diseases and
potentially altering DNA to enhance human features. Although building on the
work in HGP, CRISPR technologies were already introduced in the 1980s where
scientists found that you could cut the DNA of bacteria by using certain
proteins. The CRISPR/Cas System today consists of two parts: DNA sequences and
the proteins used to cut and replace DNA strings. The proteins cuts and removes
the unwanted DNA sequences and replaces them with new ones proved more
efficient.
So why is this interesting, from a business
perspective?
We have looked at two industries standing
to be disrupted, if CRISPR technologies proves to be as promising as they are
rumoured to be: Pharmaceutical and agricultural industries.
Pharmaceutical
Gene editing has the potential to
revolutionize the pharmaceutical industry. Imagine taking a pill(s) that
relieves you from any sickness you could be genetically disposed to. This
includes anything from diabetes, allergies and potentially addiction. Providing
the drug companies with a solid customer base and relieving governments of many
patients we today spend trillions of taxpayers’ money to treat.
Agricultural
Gene-editing, or modifying rather is not a
new technology. Evidenced by comparing both our farm animals to their wild
relatives and cultivated plants to theirs we see clearly that humans have been
genetically altering their surroundings for thousands of years, knowingly or
not. This technology could also allow us to quickly and effectively alter our
crops and animals according to our needs. Imagine altering your wine grapes
temperature tolerance according to weather-forecasts for the coming season. Or
lowering the energy needs of cows to sustain a healthy milk production.
Ethical
dilemmas
As evidenced above, there are numerous ways
this technology could be a disruptive force in the industries of tomorrow.
However, there are three main ethical debates drug companies and others wanting
to exploit this technology should consider:
How
can this technology be distributed in a democratic way?
This technology entails amazing medicinal
opportunities, and controlling its distribution would give any company almost
infinite scarcity power, potentially making this a cure for the rich. This
technology must be made available to people from around the world.
How
can we avoid inappropriate use? With
great power comes great responsibility. This technology could potentially
enable us to create “superhumans” making us smarter, stronger and faster. It is
critical for those in control of the technology don’t allow it to create new
classes of people: those who can and cannot afford a “IQ-pill”
What
about germline modification? Germline
modification, or modifying eggs and embryos still in the womb entails a host of
new ethical dilemmas we need to face on a societal level before we could
utilize. Where and when do we draw the line for how this technology can be
used?
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