Gene editing with CRISPR to develop organs with pigs for human use sounds very exciting. Personally, I wouldn’t have a problem using a pig’s organ to keep myself alive. It blows my mind that we have a new technology at our finger tips that could potentially do away with all organ donor waiting lists. We might be seeing trials on humans in as little at 18 months with the great success stated, “No regulatory agency would permit transplants with infected organs…used the tool (CRISPR) to remove all 62 occurrences of PERV genes…none of the human cells became infected.” (Specter, p.30). While this sounds like it would be a great success for humans, it also terrifies me that this would only be available to the rich. This country already struggles with our tremendously high medical bills. If we have a huge pile of organs for transplants that’s great, but who is going to do all of those transplants and who is going to pay for it?
I am not comfortable at this point in time saying Yes gene editing should be done on humans. It terrifies me what possible negative effects could come of CRISPR. I am also a firm believer that the number one problem our planet has is over population. Just developing a new medical treatment doesn’t treat all the people that need it. I know a lot of good could come of CRISPR but it has the potential to be just as evil. Can you imagine what could have come if Hitler had CRISPR? Unfortunately, people get sick and people die, and a lot of the time it’s unfair to that person, but at least you can’t point your finger at a person for causing it.