Already, there have been hundreds of proposed applications for CRISPR, some more interesting and others more problematic. A few examples include:
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Curing Cancer
There are a few different ways CRISPR might be deployed to cure cancer. First, CRISPR might help eliminate cancerous cells when used to modify a patient’s immune system to locate and kill cancers without harming other, healthy cells. Secondly, some types of cancer are actually encoded into patients’ DNA; if doctors can identify these sequences and modify patients’ genes before the cancer develops, it can prevent cancer’s growth entirely.
Modifying Animal Organs for Human Transplantation
Notoriously, there aren’t as many organ donors as patients who require organ transplants. Thus, doctors have long looked for a way to grow bespoke organs for patients or else utilize animal organs — and CRISPR allows for both.
Developing a New Type of Pharmaceutical
Pharmaceutical companies are eager to get their hands on CRISPR to develop a new type of drug using the tech. They believe that CRISPR could be applied in drug form to treat a variety of diseases and illnesses, like heart disease, blindness and various blood disorders. CRISPR could effectively change the pharmaceutical landscape.
