CRISPR advancements in agriculture provide a safe way for humans to combat the dozens of threats targeting their crops and production. Some of these threats are minor, but if fixed, would result in much higher yields of food and less food waste. Other dangers are more severe including widespread starvation.
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What are the benefits of CRISPR in agriculture, medicine and industry?Agriculture:CRISPR advancements in agriculture provide a safe way for humans to combat the dozens of threats targeting their crops and production. Some of these threats are minor, but if fixed, would result in much higher yields of food and less food waste. Other dangers are more severe including widespread starvation. CRISPR also allows for more resilient (resistant) and nutritionally dense crops, more resistant animals, longevity of food, and elimination of preservatives and chemicals.
Medicine:CRISPR also has many benefits in medicine as well. CRISPR gives scientists the ability to cure genetic diseases, treat infection diseases and even possibly cure cancer. A company is using CRISPR to treat sickle cell disease. This involves collecting stem cells from the patient's blood, then using CRISPR to activate a genetic switch that turns cells healthy. These modified cells are then infused back into the patient. One area of focus for researchers has been the technology’s applications in treating HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS. Scientists from Kobe University in Japan used CRISPR to successfully block HIV from spreading inside infected human cells. The team stopped production of the virus by using the gene-editing tool to remove two regulatory genes of HIV-1. Researchers are also experimenting with CRISPR to create new immunotherapies to combat cancer. Using CRISPR, scientists could genetically engineer immune cells, called T-cells, to find and kill cancer cells.
Industry:Apart from agriculture and medicine, CRISPR also has many applications and thus many benefits in the Industry. CRISPR can be used to genetically edit pets for favourable traits, aid in the process of making drugs, industrial biotech and energy science. In 2015, the first CRISPR edited dogs were reported in China which has more muscle and a greater running ability. This greatly benefits the veterinary industry. CRISPR also has benefits in the process of making drugs. Researchers use CRISPR to switch off specific genes to gain a greater understanding on how those genes work and what those genes do. This allows them to target disease promoting genes, as well as genes involved in drug resistance in order to develop more effective treatments.
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