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Hannah Foister

Prof. Barnes

ENG 1201

17 March 2019

Online Casebook

My research essay will attempt to differentiate between useful applications of CRISPR

cas9 research and instances where the research has gone too far. Initially, I was surprised by the

public outrage of the CRISPR twins in China, but when scientists are able to genetically modify

human embryos, the possibilities can be scary. However, when the CRISPR cas9 system can be

applied to rectify small genetic anomalies, I don’t see the harm in this type of medicine.

Therefore, my essay tries to answer the question, where should we draw the line? Are genetists

playing God? Should this field of research be outlawed? Is the benefit of improving thousands of

lives worth the possibility of putting millions at risk?

Dayan, Fazli. “CRISPR Cas-9 Genome Editing and Islam: A Religious Perspective.” Bangladesh

Journal of Medical Science, vol. 18, no. 1, Jan. 2019, pp. 7–13. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.3329/bjms.v18i1.39540.

The author of this article, Fazli Dayan, tells how how Islamic law emphasizes on the

“protection of human life” and how CRISPR could be a great help or a great evil from Islamic

perspective. Dayan goes into detail of how people view CRISPR and the benefits of the genetic

editing process and the ethical concerns that people have with it as well as religious.
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The purpose of this article is to show people the decision process of those that are under

Islamic law and there reasoning to agree or not to agree with the genetic editing process. The

audience that Dayan is trying to reach would be scholars and students.

I found Dayan’s article on the Sinclair database library. On top of that, the author uses

intext citations on several occasions.

I wanted to use this article as a different perspective for my research. I am a Baptist, and I

believe that CRISPR could help a lot of people, but I know lots of Christians think otherwise.

However, I didn’t want to use my religion as a factor and create an unknown biased for my

research. Islamic law is extremely strict and something I have no knowledge about, but from

what I have read in this article, their viewpoint on genetic editing is interesting and respectable. I

think it will be interesting incorporating this into my research.

“Dogs with Muscular Dystrophy Receive CRISPR Treatment: What Does This Mean for

Humans?” Edited by Chelsea Weidman Burke, Science in the News, 19 Sept. 2018,

sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2018/dogs-muscular-dystrophy-receive-crispr-treatment-

mean-humans/.

The researcher who was interviewed for this article Eric Olson, a molecular biology

professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. The article was posted on the

Harvard University website but, it was originally published on Science. The main purpose of this

article is mainly to inform students on how researchers have found that CRISPR helped treat MD

in puppies. While some may not agree with testing on animals, these little guys will now live

happy, healthy, normal lives due to the new technology that CRISPR has provided. Prof. Olson

made it clear that the progress was amazing and that they were looking forward to using this
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form of treatment on humans. Although scientist have made remarkable progress, they still want

to make sure they are completely ready and not to jump the gun. This article mostly is to inform

students or scholars what CRISPR is and how the treatment can/will be used.

As stated above, Olson is a professor at UTSW, but he also has written various articles on

genome editing as well as cardiac related issues. He has received multiple awards for his

research, he currently has received 12 since 2000 and is also on the editorial board of several

scientific journals. With all the experience Prof. Olson has under his belt, there is no doubt that

he is more than qualified to be writing about CRISPR and his findings for this article.

I will be using this article in my essay to explain that the progress towards a treatment for

CRISPR isn’t just a bunch of scientists stabbing at darkness. They have made progress and it

shows, so much that they hope to start testing treating this year (2019). While it is a scary subject

to be talking about, removing genes and all, the opportunities that genetic editing can offer will

change everything.

Doudna, Jennifer A., and Samuel H. Sternberg. A Crack in Creation: the New Power to Control

Evolution. Vintage, 2018.

The authors of this book are Jennifer Doudna and Samuel H. Sternberg, two very

acclaimed biochemists. Doudna is a professor in chemistry and the Molecular and Cell Biology

Departments at the University of California, investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical

Institute, a researcher in the Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging division at the

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and she is also the leading expert on RNA-protein

biochemistry, CRISPR biology, and genome engineering. Sternberg is a biochemist and the
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author of several scientific publications on CRISPR tech; he also has his own laboratory at

Columbia University and a assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular

Biophysics as of 2018. Their book goes into depth on how CRISPR has changed the game in

genetic editing and how it will make, or break, our future in biology. Doudna and Sternberg

present both points of view in this book, which is admirable since they are both very passionate

about their work in this field. The targeted audience for this book would be for anyone that is

willing to put aside the time to read something like this. Whether that be a biochemist or a

geneticist or even a student.

The two authors are both leading experts on CRISPR and thankfully enough understand

the good and the bad to this life altering technology. Doudna is a leading researcher on CRISPR

and has paved the way for many. She tells of this tech could help so many but could harm just as

many as well.

I will be using this book to further my education on the good and the bad sides of

CRISPR. While it seems like genetic editing could be a huge game changer, we can’t be blinded

by our hope. There is always that fear of someone using something intended for good for their

own wrongdoing.

Gates, Bill. “Gene Editing for Good.” Foreign Affairs, vol. 97, no. 3, May 2018, p. 166.

EBSCOhost,

This article was written by Bill Gates, technologist, philanthropist, businessman,

humanitarian, and Co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This article is from the

Sinclair database. The main point of this article is to raise awareness on how CRISPR can not

only help fight and cure diseases that torment those in third world countries, but also help
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farmers grow crops and raise livestock that have more nutritional value than those that we have

now. Researchers have also found that they could get rid of malaria completely through

genetically editing mosquitoes. Now that the technology that we needed is available, there is no

telling what we could do around the world to save millions of lives.

Bill Gates purpose of writing this article is to tell everyone the possibilities that CRISPR

has not only on MD, but as well as agriculture and life-threatening diseases that affect men,

women, and most of all, children in poorer countries. Gates, being a multi-millionaire and having

being one of the most influential people in the world, has a massive social platform that he is

using to help others in the research and study on this topic.

Gates has taken many trips around the world to see the need of those suffering from

malnutrition and disease that he knows something needs to be done. Their needs can be sufficed

with our research on CRISPR. With funding from organizations such as the Bill and Melinda

Gates Foundation, there is no doubt that this technology will soon be available to those that need

it most.

This article will be used to show that CRISPR has made such an impact already in its

beginning stages that the full potential of it has yet to be fully understood. This is important that

we understand that CRISPR is going to be used for genetic editing in humans with deformities

and disease, but I never thought of how it could be used to help farmers and through animals to

provide proper nutrition.

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“Genetic Engineering Will Change Everything Forever – CRISPR.” Edited by Volker Henn and

James Gurney, YouTube, YouTube, 10 Aug. 2016,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAhjPd4uNFY

The editors of this video are Volker Henn, James Gurney, and another person that wanted

to remain anonymous. This video will help people understand exactly what CRISPR is. It may

seem complicated, and on a huge scale yes it is, but this breaks down the basics so that people

without a PhD can understand it. It talks about how genetic editing can about and the progree

scientists have made, it even goes over how the body reacts to CRISPR.

Videos like this one are extremely useful when learning about a subject that seems too

complex for the normal Joe. The main purpose is to help better understand the procedure and it’s

history.

I applied the CRAAP test to this video and found that it was a relable/credible source to

use in my research for this essay. In thee video description, it cited all the websites and videos

that they used to gather their research, so that was helpful as well. One Google search and I did

find that researcher, Volker Henn, that consulted the video. He is a genetic researcher at the

University if Zurich.

This video will be used for my essay in hope that I can understand the procedure myself,

but also know it well enough to convey the message to others reading it.

Kolata, Gina. et al., “Chinese Scientist Claims to Use Crispr to Make First Genetically Edited

Babies.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 26 Nov. 2018,

www.nytimes.com/2018/11/26/health/gene-editing-babies-china.html.
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This article was written by Gina Kolata, Sui-Lee Wee, and Pam Belluck. It was posted on

The New York Times online magazine on November 26, 2018. This article is mainly a mashup

of several doctors opinons on the topic of genetically edited babies that Dr. He Jiankui edited to

counterattack H.I.V. earlier this year before implanting the embryos into their mothers womb.

Many geneticists were shocked and even scared that Dr. He had even gone through with the

procedure. Many fear that with Dr. He’s experiement receiving so much publicity, people will

soon want doctors to genetically engineer “designer babies”. Like, enhanced beauty, extremely

athletic, or even intellectually gifted; things that have nothing to do with preventing diseas, ehich

is what CRISPR was intended for.

The purpose of this article is to show that other genetisits do not agree with th idea of

designer babies. They intend to use CRISPR in it’s purest form, to help those in need. The main

audience for this article would be anyone interested in the subject.

The authors of the article are three women, who have various backgrounds in health and

science (Belluck), Chinese consumers, health care and intersection of demographics and the

ecomomy (Wee), and an author of six (6) books and a two time Pulitzer Prize finalist (Kolata).

I will be using this article to explain that even scientists in the field of genetic engineering

are being cautious. This is unexplored territory and if they try to open that door, they might not

be able to close it. Imagine if ther research got into the wrong pair of hands. It would be globally

devastating,
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What Are the Ethical Concerns about Genome Editing?” Edited by NIH, National Human

Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), 3 Aug. 2017, www.genome.gov/27569225/what-

are-the-ethical-concerns-about-genome-editing/.

There is no author named for this article, but it is in affiliation with the NIH, National

Human Genome Research Institute. It tells of all the ethical and safty issues that genetic editing

consists of like safety, informed consent, and justice and equity. It states that about 40 countries

banned germline editing for safety concerns.

The main purpose of this article is to raise awareness of the safety concerns biologists

and researchers have with CRISPR and it’s use on human embryos. The article is mainly used

for researchers and students I would say. They article gets straight to the facts and information.

The NIH gave multipe citations on where they received their information from, many of

which are journals and academic websites. There is noindication that the editor received false of

incorrect information. There are about 14 citations in all.

This will be my “why this is wrong” article. It brings up many good points about how

CRISPR is dangerous and the possibility of the genome editing process hurting the patient rather

than helping. I feel that this will help keep the esay “humble” and not too sunshine and flowers.

There are real risks when it comes to editing DNA.

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Works Cited

Dayan, Fazli. “CRISPR Cas-9 Genome Editing and Islam: A Religious Perspective.” Bangladesh

Journal of Medical Science, vol. 18, no. 1, Jan. 2019, pp. 7–13. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.3329/bjms.v18i1.39540.

“Dogs with Muscular Dystrophy Receive CRISPR Treatment: What Does This Mean for

Humans?” Edited by Chelsea Weidman Burke, Science in the News, 19 Sept. 2018,

sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2018/dogs-muscular-dystrophy-receive-crispr-treatment-

mean-humans/.

Doudna, Jennifer A., and Samuel H. Sternberg. A Crack in Creation: the New Power to Control

Evolution. Vintage, 2018.

Gates, Bill. “Gene Editing for Good.” Foreign Affairs, vol. 97, no. 3, May 2018, p. 166.

EBSCOhost,

“Genetic Engineering Will Change Everything Forever – CRISPR.” Edited by Volker Henn and

James Gurney, YouTube, YouTube, 10 Aug. 2016,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAhjPd4uNFY

Kolata, Gina. et al., “Chinese Scientist Claims to Use Crispr to Make First Genetically Edited

Babies.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 26 Nov. 2018,

www.nytimes.com/2018/11/26/health/gene-editing-babies-china.html.

What Are the Ethical Concerns about Genome Editing?” Edited by NIH, National Human

Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), 3 Aug. 2017, www.genome.gov/27569225/what-

are-the-ethical-concerns-about-genome-editing/.