Gene editing: Are humans really ready to rewrite the book of life?

Recent advances in this field are both amazing and scary. This amplifies the dilemmas we confront

- SAMIRAN GHOSH is a technology advisor and podcast host.

When Watson and Crick discovered DNA's double helix in 1953, humanity stumbled upon something miraculous and menacing: the ability to edit genes. Not read them, not mildly tweak them, but rewrite them with a divinity complex. Think of it as opening Microsoft Word and creating your fantasy appearance. Rainbow-coloured eyes? Sure. Sounds amazing? It is. Terrifying? Definitely.

Gene editing is like Prometheus handing humanity the genetic matchstick—except this time, instead of fire, we're toying with the instruction manual of life. It all started innocently enough, back in the 1970s, when scientists like Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen created recombinant DNA, enabling direct gene manipulation across barriers of species. The 1980s saw the first genetically modified organisms and transgenic animals, while the 1990s brought the ambitious Human Genome Project.

By 2003, scientists had mapped 92% of humanity's complete genetic blueprint. The pace quickened with the 2012 invention of Crispr-Cas9, the tool that democratized precise genetic modification through its relative simplicity and affordability. In one bold move, we accelerated both progress and ethical concerns.

Crispr tech is precise, cheap and fast. It is already being used to cure genetic diseases. Between 2023-25, the UK and US approved therapies that cured—and not just treated—sickle cell anaemia. Patients who lived with chronic pain and blood transfusions are free of the illness.