October 6 - Let’s Talk Science: Should we fix “broken” genes with CRISPR?
I’d like to thank Thomas Cislo and Juris Mezinskis for inviting me to participate in their Let’s Talk Science course. I’m Robert Brackenbury - please call me Brack. I’m a retired professor from the UC College of Medicine (you can find a brief bio by clicking on the BrackBio link at the top right of the page).
The discovery and application of CRISPR (“crisp-er”) has been described as the most important scientific advance in the 20th century. During our class session, we will discuss CRISPR’s ability to “edit” or “fix” genes that have been “injured” or “broken” by “mutations” - which are changes in the sequence of DNA, analogous to typos in a manuscript - but with more serious consequences! That last sentence had some technical terms in it but, happily, it’s easy to understand what CRISPR can do in general terms and this is enough for us to have a thoughtful discussion of its clear potential for good and the possible danger of some of its applications. (Similar to how we didn’t need to know the molecular details of nuclear fission to understand the risks and benefits of nuclear reactors or the catastrophic effects of atomic bombs).
Nevertheless, a more detailed understanding of DNA, genes, mutations and inherited diseases can enrich your appreciation of how CRISPR will soon be used to cure some terrible diseases and will tempt us to “improve” our genes. Because we have only a limited time during class, I have provided some links to annotated slide shows and a link to some suggested readings that I believe will be readily understandable and useful.
The PowerPoint files below (1-5) are generously illustrated, but most of the explanatory information is given in the Notes Page section of each slide. To view the notes, select Notes Page, as shown below. (Also, when you click on a link to one of the PowerPoint files, it may open the file directly or may download it).
