‘Researchers have used CRISPR gene-editing technology to come up with a test that detects the pandemic coronavirus in just 5 minutes. The diagnostic doesn’t require expensive lab equipment to run and could potentially be deployed at doctor’s offices, schools, and office buildings. “It looks like they have a really rock-solid test,” says Max Wilson, a molecular biologist at the University of California (UC), Santa Barbara. “It’s really quite elegant.”
Read here (Science, Oct 8, 2020)
‘As the battle against Covid-19 intensifies, one scientist calls CRISPR ‘our power pellet to help us fight this horrible virus’. The genome-editing tool could indeed bring an end to disease and drastically improve our lives, but with it comes the spectre of bioengineered abomination...
‘It might turn out that CRISPR and its spin-off technologies arrive too late to have any effective and lasting impact on the current pandemic. There could be a backlash against CRISPR’s darker potential that undermines the hope for the life-changing good it undoubtedly holds. Fear and scepticism could outmuscle reason and diligent inquiry as the CRISPR saga plays out against a backdrop of polarisation and bias.
“In the old days, people came to herbs to find new medicine,” says Qi. “In the past century, people turned to chemistry. While human lifespans become longer, the quality of human life still needs to be improved. There are many age-related diseases which simply cannot be addressed using herbs or chemical drugs. The solution is likely in molecules – and CRISPR is probably one of them. One ultimate hope is that CRISPR can help to address ageing, and help people with age-related diseases.”
Read here (South China Morning Post, Sept 5, 2020)