The CRISPR Craze

2022 marks the 10th anniversary of a remarkable report that paved the way for the CRISPR gene editing revolution. The senior authors of that study – Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier – shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020 for developing the “genetic scissors” that has already been deployed in the clinic, curing a handful of patients with sickle-cell disease. But for all of its early success and promise, CRISPR has also been at the center of a major controversy. In 2018, gene-edited twin girls were born in China, which triggered an international firestorm.

Kevin Davies PhD, executive editor of The CRISPR Journal, has followed all the twists and turns in the CRISPR saga for his book Editing Humanity: The CRISPR Revolution and the New Era of Genome Editing, which was published (as it on cue) one day before the Nobel Prize announcement. In this talk, he’ll shine a light on the “heroes” of CRISPR who developed the genetic scissors; highlight progress in precision genome engineering for genetic diseases; dig into the ethical controversies and preview some exciting new avenues for the field.