Gene editing to beat disease
One of the things I had thought in the past was that it was, maybe not pointless, but not as valuable to try and find something better than antibiotics... because bacteria and germs would just become resistant to that.
But, then I realized, that isn't necessarily correct.
Species do go extinct. And species evolve and thrive.
It is possible that through gene editing we can eradicate some, or all of the diseases that plague humanity. But, more realistically, even if we solve the problem for humans, it will likely just shift the problems elsewhere. Some strains may die out. But many strains exist across an immense stretch of this world, and somewhere, one of those clusters is likely to evolve. Either to survive the new cure, or find a new host.
Now, it is also true that this will backfire spectacularly. The simple truth is, evolution is kind of random. And, it is possible that a better, stronger approach will simply lead to something FAR worse than simply bacteria which is resistant or immune to antibiotics.
At the end of the day, it really relies on a lot of factors. One of which, unfortunately is luck. The others revolve around how completely it eradicates and how quickly.
I guess there is a discussion in the ethics of even attempting to eradicate a disease. But, I'm not up for anything that deep tonight. Just killing time and reading article while working on my media server and home automation projects.
But, then I realized, that isn't necessarily correct.
Species do go extinct. And species evolve and thrive.
It is possible that through gene editing we can eradicate some, or all of the diseases that plague humanity. But, more realistically, even if we solve the problem for humans, it will likely just shift the problems elsewhere. Some strains may die out. But many strains exist across an immense stretch of this world, and somewhere, one of those clusters is likely to evolve. Either to survive the new cure, or find a new host.
Now, it is also true that this will backfire spectacularly. The simple truth is, evolution is kind of random. And, it is possible that a better, stronger approach will simply lead to something FAR worse than simply bacteria which is resistant or immune to antibiotics.
At the end of the day, it really relies on a lot of factors. One of which, unfortunately is luck. The others revolve around how completely it eradicates and how quickly.
I guess there is a discussion in the ethics of even attempting to eradicate a disease. But, I'm not up for anything that deep tonight. Just killing time and reading article while working on my media server and home automation projects.
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