OUR (POSSIBLE) GENETIC FUTURES By Chelsea Kellner
As crowds poured into Raleigh’s contemporary art museum during the April 2017 art walk, one white wall began to fill with hand-written messages scribbled on neon Post-It notes. Above was a sign: Write down one word describing how you feel about your genetic future. Hopeful, read one note. Forgotten, said another. Diverse. Adventurous. Misunderstood. “The idea is to bring art into the equation of understanding, analyzing and considering the future of a world that already contains genetic engineering,” said Molly Renda, exhibits program librarian with NCSU Libraries. Titled “Art’s Work in the Age of Biotechnology: Shaping Our Genetic Future(s),” the exhibit was a partnership between NC State’s Genetic Engineering and Society Center (GES), the NCSU Libraries and CAM Raleigh. It’s part of a broader effort to maintain public education and engagement that can help guide the cutting edge innovation. At CALS, ethics, engagement and public policy have become as much part of the gene editing conversation as Cas9 proteins and gene drives. “The first question we ask is what you can do with a genetic engineering tool; then the second question we ask is, should you do it?” said Fred Gould, codirector of GES, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Entomology and a member of the National Academy of Sciences.
What is gene editing? Broadly speaking, gene editing is any biotechnical technique that modifies specific DNA sequences in the genome of a living organism. The newest methods have major implications for agriculture, food, biotechnology and bioenergy — and key research is happening in CALS. CRISPR, for example, is a tool that co-opts a microbial adaptive immune system into a cut-and-replace gene-editing system. Award-winning CRISPR pioneer Rodolphe Barrangou is associate professor of food science, the Todd R. Klaenhammer Distinguished Scholar in Probiotics Research and the CRISPR Lab lead. His long-term goal: solve the problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
“We have choices to make about our genetic future, and there are many different directions we can go. That’s a piece where NC State can be very important in actively guiding the technology.” — Fred Gould
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CALS MAGAZINE
