Both articles discuss how CRISPR technology is exciting and frightening, whether it is used to eliminate parasites carried through mosquitoes or used to change the germ line in humans. For example, Anthony James’s work on modify mosquitoes genetically to take away there ability to carry diseases caused by parasites is extremely exciting. If his work is successful and implemented into the natural world, thousand or even millions of lives could be saved. Also, his work could help stop the Zika virus from being passed from mother to child. This could be extremely useful, although there could be unwanted consequences, as there usually is with most technological fixes. One thing that I found frightening about the technologies is the unwanted consequences that could and most likely would arise after it is used on humans. The frightening part is that we have no idea what those consequences could be. A said in Michael Specter’s article, this technology could become available for people to use on their own, and they could introduce CRISPR consequences outside of a laboratory. This could cause major problems with future human development, if it is just amateur work without experimentation.
I believe, at this time, CRISPR technology should not be used to edit humans. With many of the technological fixes we have learned about this year, I found this one no different. The scientists experimenting with this technology should be very cautious and not just use CRISPR tech on humans without out trying to find out what the negative consequences could be. They could try and solve some genetic issues with humans, but end up creating an even bigger issue with no way to solve it. Like said in many of the articles, once this technology is used on humans, there could be no going back. We could potentially alter humans to a point of no return, a point that could be extremely dangerous. I believe that this technology needs more time to develop before it is considered to edit humans. If this class has taught me anything, it has taught me that we should be very careful when applying new technologies.