Gene editing is starting to become truly "big business", according to this profile from New Yorker magazine. Patent litigation is ongoing to identify who owns the rights to the underlying technology. The article describes how a company called Editas Medicine has been granted exclusive rights for use of CRISPR technology in human gene editing. Many are worried about its repercussions, however, Professor of Chemistry and of Molecular Biology at Berkeley and pioneer of CRISPR researcher, Jennfier Doudna, has been particularly outspoken about the potential for harm. Lander, who was among the leaders of the Human Genome Project, said that he had never encountered a more promising research tool. She has called for a research moratorium in May of this year, following the publication of research from China, in which scientists used CRISPR to repair the gene responsible for betathalassemia.
Gene editing is starting to become truly "big business", according to this profile from New Yorker magazine. Patent litigation is ongoing to identify who owns the rights to the underlying technology. The article describes how a company called Editas Medicine has been granted exclusive rights for use of CRISPR technology in human gene editing. Many are worried about its repercussions, however, Professor of Chemistry and of Molecular Biology at Berkeley and pioneer of CRISPR researcher, Jennfier Doudna, has been particularly outspoken about the potential for harm. She has called for a research moratorium in May of this year, following the publication of research from China, in which scientists used CRISPR to repair the gene responsible for betathalassemia.