I don't know anything about gene editing, but is there any chance that doing this could cut loose viruses buried in the human genome?
This is a genuine question! Does anyone know, and if it can't why can't it?
Guy Says He's the First Person to Attempt Editing His DNA with CRISPR
61–68 of 68 posts
Re: Guy Says He's the First Person to Attempt Editing His DNA with CRISPR
#62What is it about biology that attracts crazy people? As a profession genetic engineer (I've worked on successful engineered CAR-T cell therapy startups, etc.) the most appalling thing about this isn't the hubris or defiance of norms. It's how sloppy and technically laughable all of these preparations and experiments are from a biological point of view - both in terms of what I know about the viral/crispr vector desig…
The pros are worried about career prospects should they publish something pearl-clutchers deem "unethical."
There certainly at least three grad students who have transformed skin cells w/ eGFP (very very low efficiency w/ Lipofectamine) and one with a cosmetic tumor (later removed after it grew too much)
Re: Guy Says He's the First Person to Attempt Editing His DNA with CRISPR
#63> Biohacker I find this highly concerning, biological organisms are orders of magnitude more complicated than man made hardware and software. I think all he will achieve is either giving himself an infection or cancer.
Yes, highly concerning but not because biological organisms are more complicated, but because biological organisms reproduce. Any "hacking" mistake will reproduce for eternity.
Just biohack it back to normal...
Re: Guy Says He's the First Person to Attempt Editing His DNA with CRISPR
#64I am all for self-experimentation, however, when it exposes risk to humanity, I think we should tread carefully. In the long run, will these genes or other self-experiments be introduced into the global genome with unintended consequences?
In the long term we should bee able to clean it up again. I'd be more worried about shorter terms
Re: Guy Says He's the First Person to Attempt Editing His DNA with CRISPR
#65Regardless of how well this particular case works, I'm in favor of people being able to modify their bodies as they see fit. If he wants to become more muscular, morbidly obese, or ten feet tall, that's his right. Unfortunately, I could see things like this becoming illegal solely because they help people play sports too well.
I think the ethics on this wander close to the ethics of personal drug consumption, or at least smoking. Sure, it's his body and he should have personal autonomy, but there's a possibility (maybe high, maybe low, I don't know) that he could end up sick and reliant on others (medical professionals, family). I know its slightly different in the US what with the lack of socialised medicine, but it seems reasonable for s…
It's still a big factor in the US. Unpaid hospital bills get factored into prices charged to other patients, and insurance premiums go up as costly treatments increase. Especially since ACA, which legally requires insurance to cover medical care in additional ways. There would have to be an additional law allowing insurers to charge different rates for people who voluntarily wounded themselves or grown obese.
Re: Guy Says He's the First Person to Attempt Editing His DNA with CRISPR
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
I could see that being popular even if it didn't work.
LOL - Amazing observational comedy on what people will try despite being proven utterly irresponsible and dangerous.
I don't know about your area, but here in Utah, essential oils and herbal remedies are very popular despite not having any scientific evidence whatsoever.
People buy whatever you tell them to buy, provided you give them an emotional reason to buy it. We just had someone try to sell to us in our home today, and when we told them the price was completely unreasonable, they tried to appeal to emotion (we need this sale to get a bonus, so we're willing to give you an awesome price...).
If you're a good enough salesman, you can sell air, as long as they think there's something different about your air.
Re: Guy Says He's the First Person to Attempt Editing His DNA with CRISPR
#67"I want to live in a world where people get drunk and instead of giving themselves tattoos, they’re like, ‘I’m drunk, I’m going to CRISPR myself." Ok, scary thought already. But, casting aside all the safety concerns, how many attributes would someone in general want to change as an adult? You can't change your height, you can't change your hair color, you can't change your eyes. Is a myostatin-inhibitor going to be…
So... Bioshock?
Re: Guy Says He's the First Person to Attempt Editing His DNA with CRISPR
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the ethics on this wander close to the ethics of personal drug consumption, or at least smoking. Sure, it's his body and he should have personal autonomy, but there's a possibility (maybe high, maybe low, I don't know) that he could end up sick and reliant on others (medical professionals, family). I know its slightly different in the US what with the lack of socialised medicine, but it seems reasonable for s…
It's still a big factor in the US. Unpaid hospital bills get factored into prices charged to other patients, and insurance premiums go up as costly treatments increase. Especially since ACA, which legally requires insurance to cover medical care in additional ways. There would have to be an additional law allowing insurers to charge different rates for people who voluntarily wounded themselves or grown obese.
is it not legal to charge fat people more for health insurance? If not, that's ridiculous.