CRISPR-Cas9 Technology And Personalized Medicine – What About Canada?
CRISPR-Cas9 Technology and Personalized Medicine – What About Canada?
CRISPR-Cas9 technology was accidentally discovered in the 1980s when scientists were trying to understand how bacteria defend themselves against viral infection. At the time scientists were studying bacterial DNA called clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) when they identified a protein molecule called CRISPR-associated (Cas). By 2012 researchers understood that the technology could be modified and used more generally to edit the DNA of any plant or animal.
Today CRISPR-Cas9 is a powerful and precise gene editing tool made of two molecules: a protein that cuts DNA (Cas9) and a custom made length of RNA that works like a GPS for locating the …show more content…
Some companies are taking notice of the technology. A case in point is CRISPR Therapeutics which has recently developed a treatment for sickle cell disease, a blood disorder that causes a decrease in oxygen transport in the body. The therapy targets a special gene called fetal hemoglobin that’s switched off a few months after birth. It involves removing stem cells from the patient’s bone marrow and then editing the gene to turn it back on using CRISPR-Cas9. These new stem cells are returned to the patient ready to produce normal red blood cells. In this case, the risk of error is eliminated because the new cells are screened for a correct edit before …show more content…
Unfortunately, that isn’t going to happen anytime soon. A 2004 law called the Assisted Human Reproduction Act (AHR Act) states that it’s a criminal offence “to alter the genome of a human cell, or in vitro embryo, that is capable of being transmitted to descendants”. And it’s so broadly written that Canadian scientists are prohibited from using the technology on even somatic cells. Today Canada is one of the few countries in the world where treating a disease with CRISPR-Cas9 is a crime.
On the other hand, some countries provide little regulatory oversight for editing either germ or somatic cells. In China, a company often only needs to satisfy the requirements of the local hospital where the treatment is being performed. And, if germ cell editing goes wrong there is little recourse for the future generations affected.
The AHR Act was introduced to regulate the use of reproductive technologies like in vitro fertilization and research related to cloning human embryos during the 1980s and 1990s. Today we live in a time when medical science and its role in Canadian society is rapidly changing. Although CRISPR-Cas9 is a powerful tool there is much about the technology that isn’t well understood and could potentially put patients at risk if we move ahead too fast. Updated legislation that acknowledges both the risks and current realities of genomic engineering would relieve the current obstacles and support a path toward
CRISPR-Cas9 technology was accidentally discovered in the 1980s when scientists were trying to understand how bacteria defend themselves against viral infection. At the time scientists were studying bacterial DNA called clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) when they identified a protein molecule called CRISPR-associated (Cas). By 2012 researchers understood that the technology could be modified and used more generally to edit the DNA of any plant or animal.
Today CRISPR-Cas9 is a powerful and precise gene editing tool made of two molecules: a protein that cuts DNA (Cas9) and a custom made length of RNA that works like a GPS for locating the …show more content…
Some companies are taking notice of the technology. A case in point is CRISPR Therapeutics which has recently developed a treatment for sickle cell disease, a blood disorder that causes a decrease in oxygen transport in the body. The therapy targets a special gene called fetal hemoglobin that’s switched off a few months after birth. It involves removing stem cells from the patient’s bone marrow and then editing the gene to turn it back on using CRISPR-Cas9. These new stem cells are returned to the patient ready to produce normal red blood cells. In this case, the risk of error is eliminated because the new cells are screened for a correct edit before …show more content…
Unfortunately, that isn’t going to happen anytime soon. A 2004 law called the Assisted Human Reproduction Act (AHR Act) states that it’s a criminal offence “to alter the genome of a human cell, or in vitro embryo, that is capable of being transmitted to descendants”. And it’s so broadly written that Canadian scientists are prohibited from using the technology on even somatic cells. Today Canada is one of the few countries in the world where treating a disease with CRISPR-Cas9 is a crime.
On the other hand, some countries provide little regulatory oversight for editing either germ or somatic cells. In China, a company often only needs to satisfy the requirements of the local hospital where the treatment is being performed. And, if germ cell editing goes wrong there is little recourse for the future generations affected.
The AHR Act was introduced to regulate the use of reproductive technologies like in vitro fertilization and research related to cloning human embryos during the 1980s and 1990s. Today we live in a time when medical science and its role in Canadian society is rapidly changing. Although CRISPR-Cas9 is a powerful tool there is much about the technology that isn’t well understood and could potentially put patients at risk if we move ahead too fast. Updated legislation that acknowledges both the risks and current realities of genomic engineering would relieve the current obstacles and support a path toward