Thulin, Lila. “Four U.S. CRISPR Trials Editing Human DNA to Research New Treatments.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 3 Sept. 2019, www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/four-us-crispr-trials-editing-human-dna-for-new-medical-treatments-180973029/.

 

Recently, genetic modification is being used in curing inherited blindness. A study will be conducted as it will be the first time a CRISPR clinical trial that allows for cellular editing within a human body is done. The treatment is done by an eye injection behind the retina After it is injected, a virus will collide with the photoreceptor cells as the virus releases an enzyme. This technique of injecting a virus has been successful multiple times before. 

 

This study highlights how genetically modifying humans can be beneficial. Although many things can go wrong with this procedure, it is definitely worth it to test it now so it can be a technique used in the near future. It is important because this technique may not only be applicable to blindness and can apply to many other diseases. Diseases such as blindness are natural, an if this procedure potentially leads to curing more deadly diseases then our environment would be changed because the death rate would be lowered.