a process where the genome of an organism is changed by adding, removing, or replacing sequences of DNA. This is also called genome editing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genome_editingCRISPR is a very powerful technology. With any new technology, there are many important questions about how to use it responsibly. These questions can be quite difficult. And not everyone agrees on the best ways to use CRISPR or gene editing. Some ask if we should even use CRISPR at all. One major area, though not the only one, for those difficult questions has been around the use of gene editing in humans.
Imagine you are a farmer. You may love the fresh fruits and vegetables that you grow on your farm, but growing them is a lot of hard work. Growing better crops that are bigger, more nutritious, or less likely to die before harvest would make farming much easier. It would also let you grow more food for more people. But better crops are not easy to come by. Building better food is one of the ideas behind using CRISPR to edit the genes of many crops.
You decide that you want to plan a party for you and all of your friends. You have the food, the games, and decorations all planned out. All that’s left is to invite everyone to come over. But how are you going to tell all of your friends?
Could you use CRISPR to make a super hero? If gene editing can change the kinds of traits a person has, could you give them better, enhanced traits? What would they be like, and what could those enhanced people do?
When we get sick, we often go to a doctor to find out how to get better. Sometimes the doctor may prescribe medicine to fight off whatever is making us sick, like bacteria or a virus. For more serious illnesses, the doctor may need to perform surgery to remove a dangerous growth or repair a damaged organ. But what if the thing that is making you sick is your own DNA? What kind of medical treatment would you need then?
