CRISPR Geo-Politics: A race to become global CRISPR superpower

CRISPR Geo-Politics: A race to become global CRISPR superpower

A code is what defines everything; a code is a combination of some characters which makes up a series of rules and regulations and constitutes a system, and a system is what that’s  necessary for the ongoing and creation of every aspect of nature. A code consists of all the hidden traits inside it and manages the working of a system. Binary code system is among the most common and basics code of computer, a simple combination of 0 and 1 which interprets chunks of data, analyzes it and prepare the corresponding responses ensuring the accurate working of a computer system and who ever can manipulate these code it is pretty much easy to say that he can manipulate the entire computer system. In a similar manner to the combination of 0 and 1 a related kind of code exists in every single living organism a combination of four letters (four nucleotide basis) namely A,T,G and C which defines the every aspect of life in different manners. These massive long chains of Letters (the nucleotides) code on for some specific bio-molecules in living beings and imparts the specific traits to each one of us and contributes to our unique identities. These sequences are all present inside the DNA of every living being, all that unique information encoded in our genome and in a similar manner to the manipulation of binary codes and controlling the entire computer system if one can also be finally enable to manipulate the genetic letter code present inside the DNA one can easily manipulate various life forms and decide their future prospect.

During the twentieth century in the middle of chaos and all the military face-off in the battle fields a secondary battle was going on behind closed doors inside secured research labs and facilities around the world when every major country was involved in a series of experimentation focused on altering, manipulating and mastering the genetics of human being most of such experimentation failed to produce results and with continuous failure and collapsing geo-political systems such researches were ultimately abandoned. One can easily take out from this that these researchers were limited and bounded by the technology of their time should they have been living in today’s world the outcome of all these research experiments would have been quite different, by the early twenty first century biological sciences have made some tremendous progress and the introduction of the gene editing technology the CRISPR is probably the biggest achievement of the century till now.

In simple words CRISPR  is a gene editing technology which enables the alteration of a large number of genes at once with high success ratio and quick results. But this is the scientific side of this tech and it has a more aggressive, intense, and dark side in form of geo-politics and power gaining strategies. The easy gene manipulation trait which is the simplest application of this tech is also the most deadly one as it is now finally possible to create desired alterations in genetic materials in real time the genetic code can finally be manipulated and whoever controls this manipulation of genetic materials, will master the control of manipulating various life forms and ultimately gain a massive control over the world (nature and every aspect of existence).

The Big Guns CHINA vs USA:

Like all the other ongoing battles and face off the two biggest competitors in CRISPR tech are none other than USA and China. The USA alongside its other western allies can very much be titled as the inventors of the CRISPR tech, but since its introduction in 2012 as a gene editing tool the Chinese are the one to understand the values and potential of this tech above all. Although a recent estimation by research watch groups labels the USA still being the overall leader in the total number of effective publications and the patents filed but the Chinese are closing the gap at an exponential rate. Presently the USA leads with nearly 3000 high rated papers in comparison to the Chinese who sits at number 2 with almost 2100 papers in addition the USA have highest number of patents 872 versus the China which sits at number two with 858 patents filed.

A part from this the experts around the world expect that China will easily outclass the US in a while where some believe the Chinese have already beaten the US in this ground. Many experts believe the thing that makes China way better is the close interaction and partnership between the Government and Private sector and the level of commitment for the gene editing research by the state. In a short period of time the Chinese have conducted successful gene editing experiments on various kinds of life forms including plants, Dogs, fungus and even humans. On one side where the western countries are dealing with legal and ethical issues of applying gene editing to for mainstream animal and human editing the Chinese are showing no signs of slow down as the world was shocked by the announcement of First ever birth of a genetically edited human. Though it trigged an ethical debate and questions about involvement of the government being tabled one cannot simply deny the fact that they achieved something that no one could have before this. The Chinese are also making significant progress with application of gene editing in plants for disease management and yield enhancements. According to recent estimation at least 20 big major research groups are working across China using gene editing techniques in plants and the state has injected a massive $10 billion in to the agriculture research sector which is a big step a head in China’s effort to feed it’s massive 1.4 billion population. In response to China’s aggressive approach the US is making its own move a recent project by the US DOD focuses on using gene editing technologies on insects to sustain certain genetically edited viruses which when injected in to plants will enable to resist the stress conditions. The two major powers are making prominent progress but who will be able to cash the best out of it is still a long debate particularly with the entrance of new players in the game.

Russia’s Move:

One of the key developments in recent time is the changing mindset of Russia the Russian’s were significantly anti-GMO type but they have made some prominent changes in their setup recently the Russian Government has announced to invest $1.7 Billion in to gene editing research for agriculture purpose. Dr. Alexey Kochetov Director of institute of cytology and genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences has praised this announcement from the government saying the genetic research in Russia has seen very slow growth for the past decade due to small investments from the government but this announcement is encouraging specially under the current conditions and will help the Russian scientists to match up with their counterparts from rest of the world. Also a group of Russian scientists announced their proposed plan of applying gene editing on human germline, which is a major step a head.

Russian President visiting research fields

Set-Back for the “EUROPE”:

Europe has enjoyed great prosperity in almost every major field of life but a recent decision by the Continents top most court has delivered a huge blow to the efforts of European Scientific Community. The court decision place the gene edited crops under same regulations to the GMO’s which  was a huge upset for the scientific community which insist the court must review its decision as the technology enables quick effective results and unlike GMO’s do not pose any imminent threat as no foreign DNA is being added in. the European research community is in total dismay and believes if not dealt quickly Europe will be in a huge deficit in the field of science.

The new Players in the Game:

Followed by the massive interest from the global powers other countries have also entered the play countries like Japan and Australia have indicated towards possible legislation to enable the use of gene editing freely and possible introduction of such products in consumer market. In recent developments the New Zealand government also announced to invest in gene eliding related experiments.

Conclusion:

What initially began simply as a scientific venture has now turned in to a global phenomenon, the technology has its positive aspects with introduction of high yielding crops, treatment of diseases, and environmental issues but it also has its dark side as this very tech could also be used for dark purposes like bio-terrorism and creation of super soldiers. This dual nature of the tech is main reason of interest for all major global powers who are now in a race to get the best out of this tech and become a global leader.

Courtesy: SingularityHub, GLP, BBC