Ep 1.4: Genetics, CRISPR, Ethics, and Spirituality

Science and Spirituality for the Curious

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In this episode, Richard explores the ethical challenges and spiritual questions raised by the new CRISPR technology with Dr. Marnie Gelbart, who is Director of Programs at the Harvard Medical School’s Personal Genetics Education & Dialogue Program (PGED).

Richard began with an overview of CRISPR technology, emphasizing its precision and potential cost-effectiveness. He emphasized that, in germline applications, CRISPR could potentially allow humans to control their own evolution. Richard also described the potential benefits of CRISPR in agriculture, medicine, and the environment.

He discussed the recent success of Colossal Biosciences, which used the CRISPR technology to revive the dire wolf, a species that has been extinct for over 10,000 years. Although they were not able to re-create in totality the dire wolf genome, the scientists were able to create a close phenotype—that is, a close physical approximation.

Marnie described her journey as a scientist, which ultimately led to her current position with PGED. She then described the recent approval of a CRISPR technology to treat the sickle cell disorder.

Marnie and Richard discussed the ethical challenges and spiritual questions raised by CRISPR. She emphasized the importance of fair access to CRISPR treatments and the need to build trust in the biomedical enterprise. We also discussed the philosophical and spiritual questions raised by CRISPR, especially the risk of undermining the respect and dignity owed human persons and the potential risk for the commodification of reproduction and children. We agreed on the importance of diverse perspectives on these challenges and questions, especially recognizing the partnership between science and spiritual perspectives.

For more information:

• Check out the PGED website at www.pged.org. (Be sure to download your free copy PGED’s new card game, “Share your stance on personal genetics.”
• Jennifer Doudna and Samuel Sternberg, A Crack in Creation, Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017. (Dr. Doudna was co-winner of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, awarded for her pioneering work on CRISPR.)
• The quotation from Nature in its 8 January 2025 Editorial reads in part, “The past few decades have shown that new technologies are being developed ahead of conversations on their ethics or social or environmental impacts. From the atomic bomb to artificial intelligence, discussions of risks, benefits, safety, regulations and transparency have had to play catch-up…[This] mistake should not be repeated[with genetic engineering].”

On Dire Wolves, see:

• D. T. Max, “Life After Death, The genetics startup that resurrected the dire wolf” in The New Yorker, 14 April 2025, pp. 30-39, 41.
• Andrea Thompson, “Did Scientists Actually De-Extinct the Dire Wolf?” in Scientific American, 8 April 2025, accessed online at https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-dire-wolf-isnt-back-but-heres-what-de-extinction-tech-can-actually-do/, 16 April 2025.