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Someone Will Eventually Use CRISPR to Try to Make a Dragon or Unicorn

The world's top geneticists decided to spend the vast majority of last week discussing how to keep new genetic editing tools from ultimately destroying the human race. A noble goal, sure. But considerably less time has been spent discussing how genetically editing other species might change the idea of "nature" as we know it.

A future where the gene editing technique CRISPR/Cas9 is used by DIY biologists, genetic engineering startups, and even artists create fanciful organisms straight out of sci-fi is not just possible—it's likely, argue two of the country's top bioethicists.

"Why should we not expect dwarf elephants, giant guinea pigs, or genetically tamed tigers?" Hank Greely of Stanford School of Medicine and Alta Charo of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine write in the essay “CRISPR Critters and CRISPR Cracks.” "Or—dare we wonder—the billionaire who decides to give his 12-year-old daughter a real unicorn for her birthday?"

http://motherboard.vice.com/en_ca/read/someone-will-eventually-use-crispr-to-try-to-make-a-dragon-or-unicorn