PRACTICAL GENETICS
THE MUTANT PROJECT
AUTHOR : EBEN KIRKSEY , PHD PUBLISHER : MACMILLAN , NOVEMBER 10 , 2020
Reviewed by Mary G . Barry , MD
Dr . Kirksey is an anthropologist who earned his doctorate at UC Santa Cruz in the History of Consciousness Program , currently an Associate Professor ( Research ) at Alfred Deakin Institute in Melbourne , Australia . He specializes in the intersections between nature and culture , in how “ chance encounters , historical accidents , and parasitic invasions have shaped present and former multispecies communities .” 1 He has developed a worldwide network of expert sources in genetics , scientific ethics , infertility , HIV and molecular biology , and quotes many conversations with them in this book . He asked them , and his readers , “ Who is editing human DNA , and why - and should they be doing it ?”
Dr . Kirksey ’ s strength here is explaining and linking the successes and failures of gene therapy ’ s attempts to treat leukemias , HIV and severe heritable disorders to the bold new moves to “ fix this ” while the sufferer is only an embryo . The researchers ’ ambition and struggles are clearly detailed . The patients seeking gene-based relief from chronic , progressive or lethal illness come to life .
The book ’ s sheer density of information requires concentrated attention . I read it in parts , in between volumes of The Wheel of Time , which helped .
He documents closely the rise and fall of Dr . Jiankui He , born at home to hard-working but impoverished parents in rural Xinhua
county . His farm village ( where no one gave birth in a hospital , so as to flout the former one-child Chinese rule ) is now known as a “ hollow village ” in Chinese , since the entire younger generation has abandoned it for city jobs . Dr . He , in his scientific life focused on assuring genetic immunity to HIV , could have gotten it himself as a child , since all vaccinations were given with the same needle . He lucked out , but all over China there have been rural clusters of HIV and hepatitis . Jiankui was the top student always , earning a spot at the magnet school , causing his dad to work two jobs in mining and construction to afford his expensive studies at the University of Science and Technology ( USTC ). He earned a scholarship for a PhD in physics at Rice University in Houston , his 2010 dissertation under Dr . Michael Deem dealing with evolutionary processes , including the CRISPR molecule in bacteria .
Using the CRISPR-Cas9 techniques to edit genes is tricky . Dr . Kirksey compares it to a drone strike .
Instead of surgically , precisely , perfectly cutting out “ just these ” base pairs , you might end up deleting vital DNA sequences , with extensive collateral damage . For around $ 100 , if you have a lab to play in , you can buy “ designer CRISPRs ” from the MilliporeSigma company website , for instance those that make human eyes come out blue or brown . Using CRISPR is creating mutations . Federal funding for research on changing the human germline is illegal in the US , but the FDA does regulate research and use of mitochondrial replacement techniques and gene therapies for diseases , requiring ( continued on page 16 )
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