Gene editing is going to fundamentally change our lives and how we traditionally think about health throughout the first half of the 21st century.
Gene editing is going to change the way people are treated by curing the roots of diseases instead of merely treating the symptoms. It’s going to change the way we think about what we put into our bodies, as gene editing will put healthier food on our plates without polluting the planet. This food will not only be safe to eat, it will also meet the environmental challenges related to sustainable growth and climate change.
The question isn’t “When will gene editing become a significant reality for the majority of the world?”
As a result, people will no longer focus on whether or not we should engage in gene editing from an ethical standpoint. The question isn’t “When will gene editing become a significant reality for the majority of the world?” The truth is, this is neither science fiction nor a prediction — gene editing is happening now, as evidenced by the first cancer patient having been treated by TALEN®-based gene-edited T-cells. Additionally, this fall, fields across the United States will harvest TALEN®-based gene-edited soybeans and potatoes. There are even gene-edited pigs and hornless cows that are currently walking around the barnyard.
The landscape in gene editing is anything but clear, but the recent emergence of new gene-editing technologies, with new players in the space, has led to an inevitable ethical debate.
For example, three early clinical-stage startup companies, all based on CRISPR technology, have struck major alliances with big pharma and biotech companies: Editas Medicine (Juno Therapeutics), CRISPR Therapeutics (Vertex and Celgene) and Intellia Therapeutics(Novartis).
While these alliances are important, the long-term successes of these companies depend upon their ability to deliver on their promises. Turning CRISPR innovations into approved and effective drugs is a core focus, and it will still take years of more hard work before an effective, approved drug will result from these efforts — if at all.
Additionally, Sangamo BioSciences and Precision BioSciences are two other well-established companies that operate in the gene-editing space. Precision Bio, which has so far used its ARCUS gene-editing technology to advance the research efforts of its biotechnology partners, is now aiming to use its technology to develop its own products.
Sangamo is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that is researching ways to commercialize Zinc finger nucleases, which modify a cell’s DNA at a location, thereby correcting or disrupting a specific gene. Its lead therapy, SB-728, is a potential functional cure for HIV/AIDS, and recent published data further support the company’s ongoing progress, which has been described as a major step toward immunological functional control of HIV.
All of this brings us to the subsequent ethical debate, which centers on the potential threat of gene editing, specifically gene-edited humans.