Abstract
"In December [2015], Science hailed CRISPR as its 'breakthrough of the year,' announcing that it promises to do everything from wiping out diseases to creating super crops. 'In short,' said Science, 'it's only slightly hyperbolic to say that if scientists can dream of a genetic manipulation, CRISPR can now make it happen.' Yet these dreams could turn to nightmares if they involve the genetic manipulation of people. 'That's an obvious application of the technology,' says Baltimore. It raises the specter of Dr. Frankenstein's wild experiments and the eugenic goal of designer babies. In an article on CRISPR last year, MIT Technology Review wrote of labs in which 'man rebuilds creation to suit himself' and warned of 'a path toward a dystopia of superpeople.' From these accounts, it would seem that Aldous Huxley's creepy totalitarian vision in Brave New World looms as never before." (National Review) This article discusses the possible dangers of the revolutionary gene-editing CRISPR technique.