- Will gene editing change everything?
Let's talk about CRISPR.
(upbeat music)
Genetic modification is really cool.
It's also confusing and
maybe a little scary
and yet people are really
excited about a process
called CRISPR.
CRISPR is an acronym and it stands for
Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short
Palindromic Repeat.
It has to do with DNA,
you know that molecule
that carries genetic information.
Specifically we're talking bacterial DNA.
Bacteria are single celled organisms
and like other organisms,
they can sometimes
be vulnerable to viruses.
When a virus attacks
bacteria, it injects its own
genetic information into the cell
and then it takes over
the molecular machinery
so that it can replicate itself
inside the bacterial cell
until the cell explodes.
Well some bacteria have an
immune system called CRISPR,
which is essentially a
collection of instructions
on how to fight off viruses
as well as a record of every type of virus
that that bacteria has ever encountered.
When a virus invades a cell,
proteins known as Cas9 spring into action.
Now these Cas9 proteins
contain little sequences
of RNA, which are a kind of viral mugshot.
When the RNA and the Cas9
matches up with the DNA
in the virus, the Cas9 cuts and destroys
that viral DNA.
Now here's where things get interesting.
Let's say I want to target
a trait like eye color.
I could take one of these Cas9 proteins
and encode it with an
eye color RNA strand.
My engineered protein would then go find
the eye color sequence in the DNA
and when it matches up,
snip, cut it right out
of the genetic code.
When the cell attempts
to repair the DNA break,
I can sneak a new eye color
gene sequence into the gap.
Boom, I've just edited that
organisms genetic code.
Does this mean we're going
to be able to clear up
genetic diseases and disorders
or even give us the
ability to do new things,
like maybe we live longer or run faster
or lift heavier things.
Let's slow down a bit.
What CRISPR is allowing us
to do is more effectively
cut genes out of a sequence
and that has huge potential
further down the line,
but we have to walk before we can run.
Now maybe in the future
we'll be able to eradicate
certain diseases or even
boost human ability.
For right now, we're just
expanding our knowledge,
which already has me excited.
But I have a question for you guys.
What recent scientific discovery
or process has you excited,
because we might wanna do a show about it.
Let us know in the comments below.
If you enjoyed this episode,
make sure you hit like
and subscribe to our channel to join
the forward thinking, thinking tank.
Big thanks to Toyota
for sponsoring our show
and making it possible.
And guys, if you like this,
you're gonna love these
other videos of how awesome
our future is going to be.
(upbeat music)
