Over the past few years, CRISPR has been making headlines. Experts predict that this gene editing technology will transform our planet, revolutionizing the societies we live in and the organisms we live alongside. Compared to other tools used for genetic engineering, CRISPR (also known by its more technical name, CRISPR-Cas9) is precise, cheap, easy to use, and remarkably powerful.

 

Discovered in the early 1990s, and first used in biochemical experiments seven years later, CRISPR has rapidly become the most popular gene editing tool among researchers in fields such as human biology, agriculture, and microbiology.

 

Scientists are still in the earliest stages of figuring out how we can use CRISPR to change the world for the better. Of course, the power to alter DNA — the source code of life itself — brings with it many ethical questions and concerns. With this in mind, here are some of the most exciting uses for this revolutionary technique, and the hurdles that might slow or prevent these technologies from reaching their full potential.

 

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