FM DECEMBER 2018 ISSUE - digital edition

and transcription-factor like effector
nucleases (TALENS), CRISPR-Cas9
and its derived technologies have
found uses in several areas of modern
science, but its greatest impact has
been in the field of medicine and
healthcare. Initial studies focused on
in-vitro research in animal cell-lines
and embryos to study genes involved
both in normal metabolism as well as
in disease development (Wang et al,
2014; Zhou et al, 2014; Roy et al, 2015;
Zhang Y et al, 2018; Van Treuren et
al, 2018; Ojalill et al, 2018). However,
due to the rapid pace of development
of this technology, at present, several
in-vivo studies are already in progress
to develop CRISPR-based strategies
that can be used in the treatment of
previously incurable genetic disorders.
Some of the examples of the use of
this technology include the treatment
of disease models of Huntington’s
disease, phenylketonuria, Duchenne’s
muscular dystrophy, etc.(Yang et al
2017; Villiger et al, 2018; Amoasii et al,
2018). Gene editing studies have not
been restricted to metabolic disorders,
in fact, a number of
research groups have transferred
their focus on inventing techniques
to control the spread of infectious
diseases such as AIDS, malaria,
candidiasis, herpes, etc. by either
manipulating the pathogen itself or
its transmitting vector (Gantz et al,
2015; Vyas et al, 2015; Hammond
et al, 2016; Van Dieman et al, 2016;
Kaminski et al, 2016; Yin et al, 2017).
The CRISPR pioneering laboratories of
Doudna at the University of California
and Zhang at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology have utilized
their expertise to design kits that will
ensure more precise and sensitive
for pathogen detection and disease
diagnosis (Myhervold et al, 2018; Chen
et al, 2018). In addition, other labs and
start-up industries have also started
exploiting this new technology for
similar purposes (Koo et al, 2018).
Agri and food industry
The advances in the field of
agriculture and in the food industry
are not far behind. With a steady
rise in populations especially in the
developing parts of the world, there
has been an increasing demand
for the production of high-quality
varieties of crop plants, and agricultural
scientists have till date relied on
traditional breeding methods to meet
this need. CRISPR-derived methods
have been used to generate high
yielding, disease resistant and
nutrient-rich crops that cater to the
CRISPR-DERIVED METHODS
HAVE BEEN USED TO
GENERATE HIGH YIELDING,
DISEASE RESISTANT AND
NUTRIENT-RICH CROPS
THAT CATER TO THE NEEDS
OF THE MASSES
needs of the masses (Jacobs et al,
2015; Tashkandi et al, 2018; Shimatani
et al, 2018; Chen et al, 2018; Zhang
et al, 2018). The use of CRISPR in the
food industry is as yet in its
early stages especially due to hesitance
from the general public to adopt
this novel technology, but further
developments are believed to bring
about a revolution in the way we
perceive food.
Like all good things have a
downside to them, similarly, there
have been concerns with regard to the
indiscriminate use of CRISPR for gene
editing. Studies are already underway
to attempt editing human embryos for
the purpose of developing disease-free
humans (Liang et al, 2015; Kang et al,
2016). CRISPR’s reported off-target
editing effects also prove to be an
enormous disadvantage due to the
possibility of generating undesirable
mutants that may have serious effects
in the long run, especially if used in
humans. What this new technology has
in store for mankind will soon become
a reality.
DECEMBER 2018 / FUTURE MEDICINE / 95