Cambridge Business Association
Gene Editing for Good
Article

Gene Editing for Good

How CRISPR Could Transform Global Development

Bill Gates
Foreign Affairs, 2018
Read the article

Read or listen offline

Amazon Kindle
audio autogenerado
  • 0.5×
  • 0.75×
  • 1×
  • 1.25×
  • 1.5×
  • 1.75×
1×
audio autogenerado

Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Scientific
  • Inspiring

Recommendation

CRISPR gene-editing technology has taken the scientific world by storm. Using this technology, which allows scientists to insert, modify or delete genes in an organism, is not a risk-free endeavor. Yet according to Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates, failing to take advantage of gene editing’s great potential to help the world’s poorest people would be a “tragedy.” Writing in Foreign Affairs, Gates makes a case for using CRISPR and other gene-editing techniques on a global scale to promote food security and fight disease.

Summary

Gene-editing technologies, among them CRISPR, have the potential to help eradicate some of the world’s most long-standing health and development problems. Gene editing allows scientists to alter an organism’s DNA in a highly targeted way to favor certain traits. Applying the technology to agriculture, for example, can help create nutrient-rich, highly productive, drought- and pest-resistant crop varieties. In sub-Saharan Africa, where 60% of the population farms for a living, increased crop yields could pull millions out of extreme poverty and help the continent reduce its dependence on food imports.

For...

About the Author

Bill Gates is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the founder of Microsoft. 

Comment on this summary