Foister 1

Hannah Foister

ENG 1201.507

Professor Barnes

20 January 2019

Genetic Editing: CRISPR cas9

My dad has HNPP, a rare form of MD (muscular dystrophy) that causes the body’s to is a

disorder that affects peripheral nerves, causing the nerves to be highly sensitive to pressure

deteriorate over time causing lack of mobility and motor skills we use on a daily basis. It is

similar to Lou Gehrig's disease. Most people don’t realize they have it until later in life. In recent

studies, geneticists have found that CRISPR cas9, clustered regularly interspaced short

palindromic repeats, could prevent HNPP from progressing in the affected person as well as

their children. I have not been tested for HNPP, but there is a 50/50 chance that I carry the gene

that causes the disorder. My children will also face this risk whether I have it or not. This form of

genetic editing could change my dad’s, mine, and my children’s lives.

A couple of weeks ago I was watching a movie called Rampage. The whole story plot of

this movie is about how corrupt geneticists use CRISPR to genetically edit animals into monster

terror threats. When they said CRISPR, I knew exactly what they were talking about. This

movie is extremely dramatized, I mean come on a 30ft (yes, 30ft, weighting 20 tons) albino

gorilla and an equally as large wolf with bat wings? Yea, I don’t think so. Nevertheless, this

technology could be weaponized on a much smaller scale. For this reason, many scientists and

conservatives have condemned “playing God” until a better understanding and legislation

regulating the technology can be agreed upon.

 Foister 2

Although it is scary to think about all the things that could go wrong with CRISPR, I

think that genetic editing could benefit many types of disorders. I believe that with the proper

funding and regulation, this form of treatment could change the lives of many. I don’t know

much about CRISPR other than the fact that it could help my dad’s situation. I’m excited that I

get to learn about CRISPR for academic purposes as well as personal. I’ve found many articles

on the Sinclair databases about genetic editing as well as other educational websites. I’m hoping

to learn whether the government intends on funding research in the future and how they plan on

monitoring such research to make sure that it says in the right hands.