Changes

<p>WeEssay 3 &#39ndash;ve heard a lot about genetic engineering over the past two decades - and, lately there&#39;s been even more hype about a new molecular tool called&nbsp;<a href="http://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-have-removed-hiv-dna-from-human-immune-cells-using-new-gene-editing-technique">CRISPR</a>, which acts like a cut-and-paste tool for our DNA.Genetic Engineering Will Change Everything Forever</p>

<p>But what many of us don&#39ndash;t realise is that, after years of talking about it, we&#39;re on the verge of a major change for society CRISPR - one where we can edit genes as easily as we give medication today.</p>

<p>As the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAhjPd4uNFY&amp;feature=youtu.be">latest episode of Kurzgesagt</a>&nbsp;so brilliantly explains, just like no one in the &#39;80s believed computers would ever take over everything, most of us today don&#39;t really think that genetic editing won&#39;t change everything.Sangin Kim</p>

<p>And we&#39;re wrong, because of CRISPR.</p> <p>So what exactly is CRISPR? After all, humans have been genetically engineering other species for millennia, by&nbsp;<a href="http://www.sciencealert.com/here-s-what-fruits-and-vegetables-looked-like-before-we-domesticated-them">breeding food</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.sciencealert.com/here-s-what-popular-dog-breeds-looked-like-before-and-after-100-years-of-breeding">pets</a>&nbsp;to have more of the traits we like, and less of the traits we don&#39;t.</p> <p>Once we discovered DNA, we&#39;ve been figuring out ways to tinker with this process on the back end, too.</p> <p>Fast forward a few years, and we have genetically engineered mice, genetically engineered humans, and, of course, genetically engineered food.</p> <p>But while genetic engineering has played an important role in medicine, the existing techniques available up until now have been expensive, slow, and incredibly complicated.&nbsp;</p> <p>Now, that&#39;s all changing. Thanks to CRISPR, the costs of genetic engineering have shrunk by 99 percent basically overnight,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAhjPd4uNFY&amp;feature=youtu.be">Kurzgesagt reports</a>.</p> <p>Although we&#39;re now using CRISPR in humans and other animals, the system was originally found inside bacteria - where it&#39;s used as a genetic weapon to stop bacteria being infected by viruses (yes, even microbes get infected, too).</p> <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAhjPd4uNFY&amp;feature=youtu.be">As the video above explains</a>&nbsp;much more beautifully than we can, after a virus has infected a bacteria once, the bacteria keeps a little portion of its DNA locked in a genetic archive called CRISPR.</p> <p>If it ever gets infected again, this viral DNA is turned into RNA, and is fed into a secret weapon called Cas 9 - an enzyme that hunts down any DNA that matches the one in the archive, and then expertly cuts it out of the bacteria.</p> <p>&quot;It&#39;s almost like a DNA surgeon,&quot;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAhjPd4uNFY&amp;feature=youtu.be">Kurzgesagt explains</a>.</p>

<p>So farWe&#39;ve heard a lot about genetic engineering over the past two decades - and, so good. But lately there&#39;s been even more hype about a few years ago, scientists discovered that the new molecular tool called CRISPR system is actually programmable, which means acts like a cut-and-paste tool for our DNA. But what many of us don&#39;t realise is that you can tell , after years of talking about it any piece of DNA you want removed, put we&#39;re on the system into verge of a living cellmajor change for society - one where we can edit genes as easily as we give medication today. What exactly is CRISPR? After all, and ithumans have been genetically engineering other species. Once we discovered DNA, we&#39;ll cut that DNA right ve been figuring out ways to tinker with this process on the back end, too. Fast forward a few years, and we have genetically engineered mice, genetically engineered humans, and, of the genomecourse, genetically engineered food.</p>

<p>Researchers are already using CRISPR to&nbsp;<a href="http://www.sciencealert.com/crispr-gene-editing-tool-used-to-treat-But while genetic-disease-in-engineering has played an-animal-for-the-first-time">treat disease</a>&nbsp;important role in animal modelsmedicine, andthe existing techniques available up until now have been expensive,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.sciencealert.com/china-s-about-to-alter-human-dna-using-a-revolutionary-tool-for-the-first-time">as of this month</a>slow, in humansand incredibly complicated.</p>

<p>But what we see happening now is - just like the supercomputers of the Now, that&#39;80s - nothing compared to whats all changing. Although we&#39;s coming. And thatre now using CRISPR in humans and other animals, the system was originally found inside bacteria - where it&#39;s not just hypeused as a genetic weapon to stop bacteria being infected by viruses.</p>

<p>To fully comprehend exactly what As the video above explains much more beautifully than we can, after a virus has infected a bacteria once, the bacteria keeps a little portion of its DNA locked in a future with genetic archive called CRISPR might look like. If it ever gets infected again, how this viral DNA is turned into RNA, and is fed into a secret weapon called Cas 9 - an enzyme that hunts down any DNA that matches the system worksone in the archive, and what then expertly cuts it all means, you really need to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAhjPd4uNFY&amp;feature=youtu.be">check out of the video above</a>, because it&#39;s not only fascinating, it&#39;s also incredibly importantbacteria.</p> <p>What we will say, without giving too much away, is that, if the idea of designer babies makes you uncomfortable, then get ready, because that&#39;s a world we&#39;re already living in.</p>

<p>1.&nbsp;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAhjPd4uNFY</p>

<p>2.&nbsp;http://www.sciencealert.com/this-video-explains-perfectly-why-crispr-really-will-change-humanity-forever</p>

<p>4.&nbsp;http://www.nature.com/news/crispr-gene-editing-is-just-the-beginning-1.19510</p> <p><img alt="" src="/ckfinder/userfiles/images/crispr-graphic-ONLINE.jpg" style="height:1200px; width:445px" /></p>