Imagine a future where your genetic code was mapped out at birth. A future where your doctor would be able to tell you what potential diseases or conditions your baby might suffer from. A world where you could prevent yourself from ever getting sick in the first place. It’s a world that a lot of scientists would like to see come into being as well, and one that many are working on. The study of genetics is one area that shows a lot of promise and, in this article, we will look at some of the latest advances in DNA genetics and the field of mastering genetics.
What is Genetics?
Seem like science fiction? Well, it’s not going to be too long before it is science fact. The basic genetics definition is the study of heredity. It’s the study of the gene markers passed from generation to the next. Each one of us inherent genes from each of our parents and these manifest certain traits.
It’s why some people have brown eyes and some have blue – many things, from your eye color to the likelihood that you will develop adult-onset diabetes, are hereditary traits, passed from your parents to you.
The Human Genome and Mastering Genetics
Scientists have spent a lot of time in mapping the human genome and looking at ways of mastering genetics. It has been established that there are 23 chromosome pairs at the nucleus of each cell. But there’s more to it than that, there are also around about 20 000 genes on just one of the chromosome pairs.
The Human Genome Project began as an effort to locate and map all the genes within the human genome. It was officially shut down in 2003 but, even though research has continued, we still cannot say for sure how many genes are present in the human genome.
It makes things exciting. We are learning more every day and there is every indication that we will keep advancing our knowledge in this field. The truth, though, is that we have still barely scraped the surface. The more we find out about genetics, the more we realize that we don’t know.
CRISPR and Gene Mutation
But it does seem as though the sky is the limit. Recently Shoukhrat Mitalipov, a scientist from the Oregon Health & Science University, and scientists from the Salk Institute, managed to use the CRISPR to successfully cut out a gene mutation in single-celled human embryos.
What they did was to fertilize eggs from a healthy female donor, using sperm from a man with a genetic mutation that predisposed him to develop heart disease. Once the eggs were fertilized, and before DNA replication could take place, the CRISPR was used to cut away the mutated gene.
The cells were then left to develop as normal. A few days later the embryos were examined and found to be free of the mutation in 72% of cases. The CRISPR essentially cut away the “bad” section of the code and the body repaired the strand of DNA and replicated as normal.
According to Mitalipov, this could be extremely useful when it comes to correcting hereditary genetic disease. The key, though, is to start early enough in the lifecycle of the embryo, ideally when it is still a single-celled organism. And, while this technology is not widely available at this time, it does seem that the future of advanced genetics mod is going to be an exciting place.
We are currently able to screen for genetic mutations at the moment but it does mean using IVF to conceive. And the alternatives are limited – currently the option is to discard embryos that do carry the mutation. The CRISPR technique used here could change all of that.
Adult Gene Therapy
So, it seems that we seem to be making huge leaps and bounds in the field of human molecular genetics but does this mean that this technology could wipe out disease altogether?
That, at the moment, is the rub. The technique was highly successful in this instance because the gene was eradicated in the cell in its simplest form, before it started to replicate. In adults, this would simply not work because so many of the cells would already have been created.
Tests in adults have shown dismal results. I suppose that it would technically be possible to cut out the mutated gene in an adult subject but that would mean doing so in every cell in the body, and that just in not practical.
Screening the Genes
So, are genetics only useful for testing ancestry in adults? Well, actually, the ability to detect the mutated genes is, in itself, a huge advantage. You could, for example, have yourself screened to see if you have a high chance of developing a hereditary condition.
Angelina Jolie, for example, had a double mastectomy when she found out that she had an 87% chance of getting breast cancer. She later had her ovaries removed because she had a 50% chance of getting ovarian cancer, the disease that ended the life of her mother.
These actions may seem drastic but they do show how potentially useful advanced genetics can be when it comes to preventing disease. You can use advanced screening to pinpoint risks that you might face later in life and then work on reducing risk factors.
Jolie had her surgery to prevent getting cancer but screening can be helpful in many ways. For example, you might have a high chance of developing adult-onset diabetes. If you find this out early enough in life, you will be able to make good lifestyle choices. You might not be able to cut out the faulty gene in this case but you can minimize its potential to harm you.
The Ethical Dilemma
Of course, genome manipulation, especially in embryos, comes with its own set of ethical dilemmas. There is no doubting that the ability to cut out a mutation that predisposes someone to developing heart disease is beneficial, but what happens when parents decide that they want a “designer” baby?
There is a very real chance that this technology could be used for cosmetic purposes instead of just when medically necessary. For example, what if people decide that they want their baby to have blue eyes? Or that they want them to have blonde hair? Strict regulation is going to need to be implemented to prevent what could be a very useful technology from being turned into a multi-billion-dollar cosmetic service.
And that raises another moral issue. Even if only used for medical reasons, the tests and procedures are prohibitively expensive. The costs for the IVF treatment alone can run into thousands of dollars. Add in this potentially life-saving procedure and the costs will be way beyond the means of average parents.
“Designer” Babies
What you could potentially see happening is that, instead of hereditary diseases being eradicated, treatment will be attainable only for the wealthy. And that brings us back to the potential problem of “designer” babies.
The wealthy could tailor-make their babies to have the best health and the best looks and this could further the gap between the wealthy and the poor.
But, enough about the moral dilemma. It is clear that the advances we are making in biotechnology and mastering genetics have the potential to make future generations healthier, but what does the future hold for us?
Gene Therapy and Life Expectancy
For starters, we can expect to live longer, healthier lives. In the 1900’s, the average person lived to the ripe old age of 31. Nowadays, that figure has more than doubled – average life expectancy is now around 78 years of age.
And we can expect that to improve even more. According to some research, the number of people who have lived to be over 100 has increased by 71% over the last decade alone. Predictions are that by the year 2070, the average life expectancy will increase to 120.
With advances in genetic research, we might even see that number increase. The human body, technically, could go on living indefinitely except for one thing – telomeres. Telomeres cap the DNA strands and protect them.
When the DNA is replicated, it is the same as it was before. So, technically the cell is exactly the same as it was before. So, why do we age? The telomeres shorten every time that the cells replicate. Eventually the telomeres degrade entirely and the protection for the DNA is lost. That is when we start to show signs of aging.
The telomeres cannot replicate and so, once they are gone, that’s it. However, research has shown that some cells have the ability to reverse this shortening of the telomeres by releasing telomerase. But not all cells can do this – it is only cells that will need to undergo a whole lot of divisions, like germ and stem cells that are able to do this.
It stands to reason then that if we could get the other cells in the body to produce telomerase as well, we could live longer lives. Scientists have been exploring this theory but, to date, no one has proven or disproven it.
It seems that, for the moment anyway, our bodies are doomed to simply wear out.
Biotechnology and Replacement Parts
And that is where advances in biotechnology might be able to come to the rescue again. Take the replacement of failing organs, for example. At present, if any of your organs are failing, and you need replacements, you need to have a human donor.
Scientists at the Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital managed to come extremely close to growing a complete human heart in 2016. While they didn’t quite succeed, they did manage to create heart tissue that was functional and that, once an electrical charge was applied, was able to beat.
The ramifications are enormous. It is likely, in the foreseeable future, that scientists will be able to replicate fully functional human organs in the lab. They could use cells from the patient needing the transplant to reduce the risk of the organ being rejected.
That would mean no more waiting lists for organ transplant and that getting your liver replaced could end up being almost as routine as having your appendix out.
And it doesn’t stop there. Scientists have already been successful at growing the limbs of rats and monkeys. They have managed to create lab-grown limbs that are fully functional and that could be transplanted and function in new hosts.
We are not quite at the stage where we are able to grow human limbs yet, but that is not too far off now.
Human Cloning
What about cloning a whole human being? Believe it or not, it has been over twenty years since Dolly the sheep was cloned. You’d think that there would have been someone, by now, who would have cloned a human being. A South Korean biologist claimed to have done so but this was proven to be a hoax.
It is not likely that humans will be cloned completely. There is not really much benefit from doing so. The fact is that cloning humans is probably going to be relegated to science fiction rather than science fact.
The idea of using clones for spare parts, for example, is not a very useful one – it is much simpler to grow the parts that you need. When Dolly was cloned, there was a concern that people may want to clone deceased loved ones but, again, this isn’t practical – the clone would look alike but not have any of the same memories.
It is much more difficult to clone a human that it is to clone a sheep and we’d have to conduct a lot more expensive research to get us there anyway. There simply is not enough interest in doing the research.
A New Direction for Scientists?
And, besides which, science is moving in a different direction. Scientists are looking at ways to correct diseases through genetic manipulation instead. For example, Dieter Egli, a scientist at the New York Stem Cell Foundation, started researching how to create disease-specific cells.
His research has been aimed at growing insulin-producing cells that can be transplanted into the host. He has had some success when it comes to cloning the cell line and is optimistic about the outlook for the treatment. He believes that, in future, this kind of treatment will become standard, with cells being cloned from the patient being treated in order to ensure an exact match.
Nanotech in Medicine
In many futuristic movies, medical repairs are implemented from the inside out through the use of tiny particles, called nanoparticles or even tiny robots, called nanobots. The idea is to program these particles and robots to conduct repairs at a cellular level.
Researchers are currently looking at ways to use nanoparticles as a drug-delivery system but there are endless potential applications. Other researchers having been looking at nanoparticles as a means to kill cancer cells or to help control diabetes through the release of insulin.
Nanotechnology is also being investigated as a diagnostic tool. For example, MIT researchers have been experimenting with a gel rich in nanoparticles that is injected into the skin. Once injected, the particles are able to monitor blood levels of nitric acid.
The applications are endless – instead of having to undergo invasive procedures for the detection and excision of diseased tissue, nanoparticles could be used to first detect and then destroy the tissue.
Humans Become the Machine
Of course, the advancements in nanotechnology naturally raise the issue of using technology to replace the human body altogether. The idea of a singularity computer so advanced that it could act as a companion for a human, with the ability to learn and grow along the same lines introduces an interesting idea.
What if we could transfer our thoughts and memories over to a mechanical version of ourselves? Or an enhanced version where machine and flesh work together to create a being that can, possibly, live forever.
The process of aging could, ostensibly, be halted completely if we are able to advance our gene research enough. But what if we wanted a body that not only withstood the ravages of time but also had no biological needs?
Imagine if you were able to go on forever without needing to eat, or to drink. Perhaps even without even the need for sleep. Machines can go on for long periods of time without the need to rest. We would not have to worry about diseases – they would be eradicated forever. Imagine all we could accomplish without the need to eat or sleep or the fear of getting ill or injured.
Injuries would be easily repaired and we could, instead of dying, pass our consciousness into a whole new body. We could not only live forever, but be young forever as well.
The future promises to be a truly exciting place. Our world is changing at an exponential pace and I, personally, cannot wait to see what happens next. While we try to imagine what our futures are going to be like, the truth is that we really cannot say what will happen tomorrow.
It will literally be a whole new world.