At the end of October this year, Chinese scientists used the CRISPR / Cas9 genomic editor for the first time in history to treat human lung cancer. The cells modified by the editor were successfully injected into the volunteer's body while he feels normal. If all goes well and further, then the artificial change of cells will be engaged in for other volunteers who volunteered for the experiment, cancer patients.
Even before this event, China was called a leader in genetic research; back in 2015, the Chinese conducted experiments and edited the genes of human embryos, which is not yet welcomed in the same USA. In fact, today there are attempts to create a more perfect person and, with the help of a genomic editor, defeat various diseases, primarily cancer. In December 2015, CRISPR / Cas editor received the Breakthrough of the Year award from Science magazine, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
But there are other concerns about the use of such breakthrough editors.
In the United States, in November 2016, the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) sent a letter to Barack Obama. The letter focused on the threat of bioterrorism, the urgent need to develop a national biosecurity strategy and describe the dangers posed by gene therapy, synthetic DNA and the CRISPR / Cas9 editor. The Council would also like to hold regular consultations for Donald Trump on bioterrorism.
Scientists propose to create a special government agency in the United States and develop a biosecurity strategy within 6 months. Such a strategy was partially developed in the United States back in 2009, but its implementation is not centralized, measures are taken only by a number of government agencies and without any coordination.
We didn’t forget about money either. According to the Presidential Council for Science and Technology, it is necessary to create a fund of $ 2 billion that could be used to combat threats from the latest biotechnology, it is necessary to spend up to $ 250 million every year to build up vaccine stocks and, finally, it is also necessary to invest more actively in the development of new antibiotics and drugs against artificially created diseases.
Scientists believe that the state is somewhat fixated on the fight against such threats as anthrax, smallpox, and the Ebola virus, and does not understand the seriousness of what is happening in the field of genetic engineering.
State research in the first case is under tight control and there are a number of restrictions on experiments and modifications, for example, influenza. In the second case, there is no such control yet.
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Therefore, the advisers advocate the creation of a national genetic control system and a national pathogen DNA database so that in the event of an outbreak it can be determined whether the pathogen has been modified or artificially created.
What is the Presidential Science and Technology Council afraid of? There are fears that terrorists will be able to modify viruses and bacteria in such a way that existing drugs can no longer fight them. Moreover, not only the population of the United States itself, but also important crops and livestock, may be under threat, that is, a blow may be inflicted on the country's food security.
In the United States, they have been engaged in the fight against bioterrorism since 2001; the FBI has been trying to "draw on a pencil" those who "play" with genetic engineering since at least 2005.
Bioengineering technologies are becoming more accessible, cheaper, and the laboratories themselves are already moving literally into home garages, which are almost impossible to control by the authorities.
The simplest version of the CRISPR editor costs only $ 140, the materials for experiments are less than $ 100, and the more complex kit for "home genetic engineering" - $ 745. It is clear that today a terrorist student will not create a disease in his garage that will mow down millions of people, but in the foreseeable future, such a scenario should not be completely denied.
In February 2016, US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, to the surprise of security experts and scientists, equated genetic engineering with weapons of mass destruction. The threat from genetic engineering was then, according to Clapper, on a par with North Korea's nuclear weapons, Syria's chemical weapons and Russia's cruise missiles.
In a report by the US intelligence community, it was noted that the threat posed not by individual players, but by certain states: “Research in the field of genome editing, conducted in countries with regulatory or ethical standards that differ from those of Western countries, is likely to increase the risk of creating potentially dangerous biological agents or substances.
One cannot but remember China in this case and the latest news about the successes of Chinese scientists.
Ilya Plekhanov
