Incorrect scissors
George Church: "CRISPR is vandalism against the genome"
Yulia Krasilnikova, Hi-tech+
George Church, a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, was at the origin of the first genome sequencing programs and advocated the popularization of DNA tests. However, the trajectory along which genetics is developing today does not suit him.
In an interview with the a16z podcast, Church commented on the scandalous experiment conducted by Chinese biologist He Jiankui. The scientist edited the genome of two embryos. Using CRISPR's "molecular scissors" technology, he eliminated the CCR5 gene to provide children with protection from HIV. As a result, twin girls were born - the first people with an edited genome before birth.
Church, unlike most representatives of the scientific community, did not condemn He Jiankui. Moreover, the geneticist believes that the experimenter was bullied.
According to Church, the consequences will need to be judged after the research. He drew an analogy with positron emission tomography, which began to be introduced, although the X-ray radiation indicators could not be reduced to zero.
Despite this, the CRISPR technology is still too far from perfect to put it into practice. An American geneticist compares the technique to an act of vandalism, since the correction procedure introduces a share of chaos into the genome. The modern approach does not allow making "edits" with high accuracy, therefore, according to Church, it is impossible to call the process "editing".
Under state control
Despite the imperfections, Church believes that CRISPR is on a par with nuclear energy in terms of importance for states. Therefore, the geneticist is sure that the government is behind He Jiankui's experiment.
"It is unlikely that such a technologically advanced state, which also closely monitors citizens, would have missed such an important thing," Church said in an interview.
Recently discovered documents prove that He conducted the experiment with money from the state budget. Although theoretically he could disguise the purpose of the money.
Church admits that twins who were born with an edited genome will be fine. The risks, in his opinion, are minimal. However, this is not a reason to consider the technology safe.
Some experts fear that the experiment will slow down the development of genetics around the world. For example, China will now introduce criminal liability for genome editing. According to Church, the pace of development will slow down for some time, but only in those areas that raise ethical questions. In parallel, over-advertising will attract investors to the industry who will start investing in new projects.
At the same time, Church himself advocates the introduction of regulation.
"Only regulation will save us from the new thalidomide and rofecoxib," he said. These drugs have been banned due to the long-term negative effects of use. Women who took thalidomide had children with congenital malformations, and taking rofecoxib increased the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Mass DNA testing for the benefit of units
In an interview, the geneticist noted that personal DNA tests will bring the greatest benefit to humanity in the near future. They will reduce the burden on healthcare and significantly reduce costs.
For most people, genome sequencing will not bring significant benefits. 1-4% of patients will receive important information on the results. But if they manage to help, the effect will be enormous.
Church compares DNA tests to car seat belts. Many do not fasten their seat belts, because they consider the risk of an accident to be minimal. But in modern cars, it is difficult to circumvent this procedure, since the car emits a warning signal until the driver and passenger buckle up. The same system is needed in the field of genetic risk assessment.
In general, Church named three obstacles to the development of genetic tests. Firstly, while they are too expensive – about $ 1000, although they should be free. The second problem is the risks to privacy – people don't want the government and insurance companies to have access to their data. And the third problem is misunderstanding. People do not see the benefits of DNA tests and more often do them only out of curiosity.
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