The Imminent Future of Medicine - CRISPR

 by Imran Rahman

As new diseases spread across the globe, it is only time that a change in our mindset must occur if we are to survive as humans. In this article, we will be glossing over new medical technologies that could potentially have a major impact on mankind in the future.

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats harnesses the immune system of the bacterium to edit genetic information.

As Bacterium are attacked by bacteriophages, some surviving bacterium manage to contain the bacteriophages genetic information and store it in CRISPR - specialised strands of DNA.

When new Bacteriophages attack, A specialised protein called CAS9 compares the DNA from the insides of the Bacterium and that of CRISPR it naturally carries and when it finds a match, isolates and destroys it.

By replacing the CRISPR in these enzymes with ones of our choosing, we can edit genomes however we like as this system is transferable to any organism with genetic information.

The possibilities of this are endless.

By using the CAS9 protein to isolate and destroy part of the genome that we don't like, selective breeding will no longer be prolonged over a generation, but be accomplished in a matter of months. For instance, by eliminating a particular gene in a dalmatians genome, a prolonged problem of bladder stones can be avoided which is prevalent in the whole species.

Also, CRISPR can help the world become greener. By creating an algae that produces twice as much fat than that of its counterpart (CRSPR-CAS9 removes the fat limiting gene), biodiesel can be created which is more reactive and economically viable. This could potentially reduce the number of fossil fuels are used every year.