Learn about CRISPR - The genetic modification technology that China has just surpassed the United States

This superiority of China is a warning story for the tech world.

A group of Chinese scientists injected the gene-modified cells into the human body with CRISPR-Cas9 technology. This is the first time that CRISPR gene editing techniques have been used on humans and will open up a biomedical battle between the US and China.

Chinese scientists are hoping that modified genes can help the patient's body fight some types of lung cancer, especially with chemotherapy or other treatments that seem to be lacking. effective.

Meanwhile, a group of other US scientists are also proposing a similar study in June this year. The $ 250 million research study conducted by Sean Parker Cancer Institute is scheduled to be conducted at the University of Pennsylvania. Although the project has been approved by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), it has not been licensed by the US Food and Drug Administration.

Genetic editing tool called CRISPR. The CRISPR gene editing technology has been voted "Breakthrough of the Year" by the prestigious American Science magazines . Experts say it will change lives and have the potential to create a revolution in medicine, basic science and agriculture.

Although this technique was first developed in 2012, since 2015, CRISPR has been effective and has begun to transform science, at the same time sparking public debate, making it become into the best scientific progress last year.

The gene editing tool called CRISPR (Group of symmetrical short segments that repeat frequently - clustered regular interspaced short palindromic repeats) - are taken from a bacterial protein - allowing scientists to cut and paste specific DNA parts , paving the way for new treatments or treatments for genetic diseases.

CRISPR studies start from somatic cells (not reproductive) . "The earliest studies will be somatic interventions with different types of blood stem cells , " said Pilar Ossorio, Professor of Law and Bioethics at the Morgridge Research Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, once speaking at Genetic editing summit that:

By CRISPR-Cas9 technology, people can eliminate all genes that are capable of causing disease.

"If you want to try to increase the amount of insulin in someone's pancreatic cells, you can correct that gene in pancreatic cells," Ossorio said. Theoretically, this therapy may help people with certain types of diabetes because pancreatic cells do not produce enough insulin. Cell DNA will be removed from the body for correction and then returned to the human body.

Scientists have been testing other genetic engineering techniques for treating diseases. Another method has been shown to be effective in HIV treatment, but the CRISPR genee repair method offers a simpler treatment when using only one enzyme to separate unwanted gene codes.

By CRISPR-Cas9 technology , it is possible to remove all genes that are capable of inheriting cancer in humans before the disease develops. Theoretically, they can also eliminate other diseases by separating pathogenic genes after they start harming the patient's body. This is what the Chinese-American faculty want to explore, but it seems that this time China is in the lead.

The United States has a more stringent health regulation system than most other countries in the world. That's why even when the study is only tested on patients who have no other treatment options, it still has to go through a rigorous censorship process before the ministries decide to license the scientific community. human genome adjustment.

As a result, the first trial in the United States was conducted not to test the effectiveness of therapy but primarily to see if it was safe.

A group of other Chinese scientists also experimented with CRISPR on human embryos but the results were not as expected.

CRISPR is not such a perfect technology that implementers cannot make mistakes. Sometimes Cas9 technology is again genetically mutilated and can cause cancer.

Meanwhile, Editas Biotechnology has proposed a CRISPR test in 2017 for genes that cause blindness in humans. Stanford University has also planned to test CRISPR technology to repair anemia-causing gene.

However, this superiority of China is a warning story for the tech world. A group of other Chinese scientists also experimented with CRISPR on human embryos but the results were not as expected - at least two-thirds of fetuses were found to have gene mutations and only a small number (28 The case survived on a total of 86 trials) the fetus contained alternative gene implants.

Overall, China is still defeating the US in this district. We will still have to wonder if this technology is really safe to use in treating human diseases.