Since CRISPR was first conceived as a gene-editing tool in 2012, scientists have seen its awesome potential.
It promises to revolutionize the treatment of genetic disorders. It’s being used to genetically engineer pig organs for transplant surgeries and to develop new antibacterial treatments. It’s being used to breed crops and livestock, as well as modified mosquitoes that thwart the spread of disease.
But CRISPR also has a dark side — it could become an instrument of eugenics.
The ability to easily edit genes comes with the theoretical potential to pare down the diversity of humankind, categorizing some traits as acceptable and others as diseased or “unfit.”
This dark side rears its head when scientists consider editing germline cells, which give rise to eggs and sperm, said pediatrician Dr. Neal Baer, a co-director of Harvard’s Master of Science in Media, Medicine, and Health, who edited a new book called “The Promise and Peril…
