What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

If you get the flu vaccine and catch the flu anyway, then what’s the point? Well, you were less likely to get it. And if you do catch the flu, it probably isn’t as bad.

Nothing cures cancer today. We just fumble around trying to kill the tumors and pray it doesn’t come back.

The flu vaccine does not cure the flu.

And the point is to balance the risks of flu against the benefits and risks of the vaccine. Which is easy to do. Unlike gene therapy.

I think this is a semantics argument over the word cure.

Cure is not the same as prevention.

But 100% prevention of a genetic disorder like Huntington’s or Progeria, is as good as a cure.

Yes, the semantics argument is silly.

Like I said, I think that it’s reasonable to envision selective gene therapy for carriers of 100% genetic diseases.

It’s unreasonable to envision universal gene therapy, for the same reasons it’s unreasonable to envision Prozac in public drinking water or doctors offering to inject permanent blue dye into the eyes of brown-eyed toddlers.

I guess it depends on what you mean by universal. I do think it will be common for parents to edit out defects, in the near future, certainly within my lifetime. The only question is what’s ultimately considered a defect.

Well, the first and only scientist to try it is now facing suspension and censure. Who do you think will be the next genius to volunteer to end their career?

So your argument is that it’s possible to stuff the genie back in the bottle?

My argument is that nobody actually wants to touch that particular bottle. It’s the third rail of medical research.

There is a big difference between something that sounds cool, and something that is actually developed into therapy. A lot of ideas are abandoned due to lack of interest and/or results. That’s two strikes against embryonic gene therapy.

Even high profile research with everyone on board can be set back decades after a single adverse event. Jesse Gelsinger died in 1999 after an attempt at adult gene therapy, and the field is still dealing with the consequences. The first adult gene therapy drug didn’t come to market in 2017, based on research performed in 1993. That’s 25 years from lab to pharmacy, in a field that everyone wants to see succeed. Lots of people don’t want to see embryonic gene therapy succeed and can easily block it. No, I don’t think it will happen in our lifetime.

What if you could buy a CRISPR kit direct from Shenzen on Aliexpress.com for $199? What if you could download gene sequences off reddit.com/r/hackyoself?

Never bet against technology getting cheap and ubiquitous.

Yes, performing CRISPR is easy on your cheek cells.

Now, order an online kit to isolate an embryo in utero.

Sure, gearbest.com will have it for 20% off for Single’s Day.

Yep, there it is!

Seriously, though, you easily buy dental probes and drills online, and probably score some novacaine if you really tried. All those things have been around for decades. And Reddit is always a good source for knowledge.

So, why isn’t DIY dentistry more popular?

Pain.

Right. Now imagine DIY dentistry on a tooth located behind your bladder

I don’t think that’s as good as a cure. It basically says screw you to the people that have it. I’d prefer a cure. I mean if you can cure Huntingtons why would you prefer genetic manipulation over that? I don’t see how we’re ever going to get to a point where ever baby is genetically “fixed” first, but if we can get a cure that can spread quickly.

Common? Common where and for whom? We don’t have great infant mortality, today, in a rich and developed country. You think the group that doesn’t even get standard care through pregnancy is somehow going to line up and pay for gene alterations? and that’s just one country.

We can’t cure Huntingtons.

Not today. You don’t know what we can and can’t do in the future. The road in history is pathed with people saying we can’t do something, and then we do. Genetic manipulation of pre-born babies is not a replacement for cures.

have you tried to give yourself a haircut? Scissors are readily available on Amazon and brick and mortar.

Edit: Disclosure so I don’t seem dicky, I have. And apparently it is immediately obvious because the first thing my friends say is “What happened to your hair?”

Lots of people cut their children’s hair. My mom did. She was decent at it without any formal training. But I wouldn’t let her try her hand at home dentistry, much less genetic engineering.