Judaism’s discussion of genome editing begins—yes, really—in the beginning. In Genesis, God instructs Adam and Eve to “be fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it; and rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and all the living things that creep on earth” (Genesis 1:28). On a cursory reading, God seems to be authorizing humans to dominate the natural world. However, this isn’t the only way to interpret the Hebrew text. Milken Rabbi Candice Levy contends that God made it humanity’s responsibility to nurture and protect the earth, not exploit it for profit. However, as Rabbi Levy points out, the boundary is often unclear: “I think that there’s a fine line between […] using the resources that are available rather than exploiting them.” CRISPR arguably belongs to both categories, seizing the reins of evolution away from mother nature while safeguarding human, plant, and animal life.
However, things become more complicated when CRISPR is used for reasons other than directly preserving human life, like enhancing athletic ability, height, memory, or IQ. Rabbi Levy brings up the Jewish concept of Kilayim, which outlaws the creation of new species through intermixing DNA. Whether or not this applies to CRISPR is a subject for debate, but runs the risk of utterly disqualifying the technology under Halakha, Jewish law.
