Title: Learn: New Tools - Powerful and Dangerous?
Course: BTEC-1000-301-302-303-F21 > Section: Global Ethics and Biotechnology

Module 5 New Tools - Powerful and Dangerous?

Ethical considerations be taken into account as we continue to use and develop new technologies. As the Tuskegee case study demonstrates, even generally well-meaning people can be involved in work that is, in retrospect, repugnant. Two new technologies in particular have captured media attention as being especially powerful, and therefore especially dangerous: CRISPR and gene drives.

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Watch the video “Genome Editing with CRISPR-Cas9” to learn about how the CRISPR technology works, and what it can be used for.

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Next, watch Jennifer Doudna, co-inventor of the CRISPR technology, express her own concerns over how the technology will be used.

CRISPR technology has made it possible for humans to change an organism, altering its traits in ways that suit us. As you saw in the video, it’s possible to make an entire mouse, or other animal, with the altered traits.  But what about changing an entire species?  Could we do that?  And would we want to?

As you may recall from our discussion of the production of the drug artemisinin, malaria is an incredibly devastating disease that kills over a million people a year. If we could genetically engineer mosquitoes so that they no longer spread the disease, we could save 3000 children a day. But, what are the risks, and who will bear the brunt of those risks? The two videos below give an excellent introduction to gene drives, the technology that could change an entire species.

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