Gene editing: CRISPR raises many questions about risks and ethics

The idea of eliminating and inserting genes throws up immense possibilities, but it also raises many questions about risks and ethics

Last October, bioscientist and former NASA researcher, Josiah Zayner tried a path-breaking experiment with himself as the subject. 

Zayner switched on his video camera, invited a few scientists to act as witnesses and edited his own genes. He live-blogged this with a running commentary.

Zayner used a new technology, called CRISPR, to remove the myostatin gene from the cells on his forearm. Myostatin inhibits the growth of muscle. If the experiment works, Zayner should eventually end up having bigger muscles on one forearm

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But more than the success or failure of this experiment, Zayner was simply demonstrating that genetic hacking (bio-hacking