Since the debut of the biotechnology CRISPR-cas9 in 2012, this day seemed inevitable — despite endless warnings from bioethicists and a wide variety of scientific bodies. Hours after the announcement that the twins were born “a few weeks ago” with modified DNA, the technique’s co-creator Feng Zhang called for an immediate halt to such trials.
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CRISPR is a kind of search-and-destroy or search-and-replace for the human genome. Normally, RNA molecules, spawned through DNA transcription, serve as the blueprint for proteins. But by pairing RNA with the aid of a DNA cutting enzyme called cas9, the CRISPR technique can snip out a particular DNA sequence, turning off genes or replacing them with other DNA.
