Scientists have figured out how to create new genes by using a chemical that is very similar to marijuana. Now is that a bad thing or just a symptom of what happens when scientists take drugs?
Fox News Correspondent Jeff Flocken explains.
While weed smokers take their drug of choice for pleasure and relaxation, scientists take it to create technology to move the world forward.
Now, scientists have figured out how to create new genes by using a chemical that is very similar to marijuana.
That new chemical may spark a crisis for employers when looking for high school students to test their use of drugs.
It is called Crispr-Cas9. It is very similar to a natural gene — and if you could decode it so that scientists could inject it into a patient’s cell to accomplish its goal, it would mean they could create viruses with the ability to plant genes and insert them into cells.
Scientists at Harvard University have used the technology to create and edit human genes. In a paper in July, they pinpointed sites where some genes could be edited.
They found gene splicing points on skin, brain and heart cells that are efficient for changing genes.
Will human beings really be able to choose the types of drugs we use?
If that use goes forward, parents will have to worry about how their kids are using these drugs, and even what they are doing in the privacy of their bedrooms.
That said, now the public wonders what it takes to turn your genes into tools for medical science.
And how would your brain react if your body was released the power to edit its DNA?
Thanks to that ability, there will be people turning their genes into drugs for profit and for others.
There are legitimate medical benefits for a few gene therapies, but people need to be aware that at this point, testing is not available for that.
It is not yet clear if studies will ever be approved to determine how a person will respond to manipulating their genes with a new technology, but if it is used to create the next breakthrough, an unknown medical impact could lie ahead.
Jeff Flocken is Fox News.