TED DİYARBAKIR COLLEGE / 9-B
74
Artificial
Futures
Öykü Irmak BAYINDIR
In the last 66 years we’ve discovered
DNA, and we learned how it works. We’ve
developed machines that can read it. And
finally, in the last six years we’ve developed
some tools and methods that can change
it. Now we are designing these “unborn
babies” by using those methods entering
a new era. A future with much smarter,
durable, beautiful and intelligent babies
than us will come at any case.
Gene editing is not something new. It has
been done for years and it has 4 levels.
Scientists explain it in the form of doors
in a 4-storey building. The door on the
ground floor of this building was opened in
1980 for improvement. After the first trials
failed, doctors in 1990 managed to treat a
rare gene disease. However, the method
still remains experimental. In particular,
heart diseases related to multiple genes,
high blood pressure or common diseases
such as Alzheimer’s research is underway
to treat this method.
“If we can edit genes, why should we only
use them for treatment?” said scientists
and in 2004 they opened the second door.
They used mice for an experiment. One
of them was a normal rat, but the other
mouse’s genes were designed. It’s been
arranged to run longer. Designed mouse
ran 200 meters per minute and the normal
one gave up after running 200 meters in
10 minutes. Alongside, the third and the
fourth doors called “Germline Gene Editing
Techniques” are about to open. These are
the changes on reproductive cells. For
many scientists, we are at the beginning
of this way about these techniques. And
it’s not legally possible in 25 countries. It’s
not appropriate to play with the DNA of the
unborn babies.
In November, 2018, a Chinese scientist
announced that he designed two babies’
genes and they were twins. Their names
are Lulu and Nana. Due to designing their
genes, they will never have AIDS disease
but people still have questions in their
minds about its ethical side.