(staccato electronic music) - [narrator] in the future, genes from most creatures can be safely inserted into other species to create revolutionary hybrids. engineered jellyfish, with genes from plastic-eating microbes, now clean up the oceans by organically breaking down non-decomposing trash. some scientists have even extracted dna from dinosaur remains and are on the brink of resurrectinthese extinct species. the hope is by bringing a single dinosaur back to life, new technologies will be developed to help other species on the brink of extinction. (staccato electronic music) - [kondwani] speaking with george church, firsthand, is both humbling and inspiring. as if resurrecting the dna of the wooly mammoth wasn't enough, he also helped start a3 billion human genome project this landmark study identified every base pair of dna

and mapped the entire human genome. its primary purpos was to conquer disease. it was and remains a really bigeal. (audience applauding) - we are here to celebrate the completion of the first survey of the entire human genome. - [kondwani] this roadmap of the intricate genetic codes ross theuman body empers docts better agnose and eat disee. - we've worked really hard on bringindown the cost of reading genomes, which i think is the thing that mt people could benefit from. - [kondwani] thanks to advances in dna sequencing technology, the cost of reading entire genomes has plummeted. - all it would take is a small tipping point event to shift it over so that everyby's using this. and in the case of genetics, that would be reading everybody's genome and giving them information that was actionable. - [kondwani] by actionable, he means letting individuals know what kinds of diseases they're genetically susceptible to. this empowers species be proactive in avoiding or managing imminent diseases.

- i think we're on a trajectory where everybody in the world are gonna get sequenced, within a few years. - [kondwani] the human genome project continues to have a big impact in treating all kinds of human diseases. (dramatic electronic music) to find out how, i'm at the historic cold spring harbor laboratory in long island, new york to meet with dr. bruce stillman. - there's been a revolution coming from the human genome project, and a lot of cancer research is lilinked to that. we now have a very deep understanding of that genetics, and what that can do is to link new therapeutics to individual patients' genetics. - [kondwani] i have an interest in oncology. - [bruce] mm-hmm. - i'd lost an aunt to breast cancer and i think that took me down this journey towards finding a solution. - one of our scientists used a very interesting genetic technique of genetic selection, and now we're gearing up

to use that information to improve cancer therapy. - [kondwani] founded in 1890, this lab is home to eight nobel prize winners. - so this was the first lab at cold spring harbor and it's still used. this is a cancer laboratory. so, still used for cancer research. - [kondwani] scientists here are using gene editing techniques, including crispr, to develop new ways to fight cancer. these advances are leading to treatments tailored to work with an individual's unique genetics. - so for instance, if you have a mutation in a particular gene that causes lung cancer, there is a therapeutic that is targeted to that lung cancer. - [kondwani] but in the shadow of its long history of using genetics to improve human life, cold spring harbor labs do have an unfortunate and dark past. (dramatic somber music) - what happened in the 19-teens and the 1920s was that scientists began to believe that a lot of traits were inherited by individual genes, when in fact they weren't.

- [kondwani] this led to an era of what's called eugenics. that is, the selective breeding of humans. cold spring harbor labs even opened a eugenics records office to gather biological information on the american population. at the time, people with certain traits that some believed to be desirable were deemed fit to reproduce. while minorities and those with disabilities were blocked from marrying and were even sterilized. - that eugenics movement got way off track from science. scientists pushed back against this eugenics movement and by the930s, it was effectively shut down in the united states. - [kondwani] despite this skeleton in the closet, it's important to know our history so as not to repeat it. and from what i see at cold spring harbor labs today, i think there's plenty of room to be optimistic. when real science is conducted, true progress can be made,

and the best place to start is with affected children. - we have worked on a disease called spinal muscular atrophy, which is a mutation that cldren inherit. the ild will eventually die but thlaboratory developed a drug which actually prevents these children from dyg and actually gives them a fairly high quity of life. - [kondwani] all this makes me think of young annabel frost and her debilitating genetic disorder. this kind of research fills me with hope. in fact, genetic engineering can even remedy genetic disorders like sickle cell anemia. us by mutaon, this diase deforms blood cells into hook-like shapes which can stick together and cause life-threatening blood clots. - crispr's now being used to change genes in sickle cell anemia. where you then transplant back into those patients, cells in the blood system that will essentially reverse the sickle cell disease,

and so those types of trials are occurring now with crispr. - [kondwani] recently, scientists gene edited a patients own stem cells that pduce bone marrow. they then re-injected these altered cells back into her body. amazingly, this therapy cured the patient's sickle cell disease for the first time in history. - technologies like crispr are incredibly powerful and n change the world. they also have the potential for changing humanity as itself. - but there are limitations. the crispr technology is not perfect and sometimes it makes mistakes in the genetic reworking that could be catastrophic. this means crispr's implementation directly into humans remains a risky process, but one vionary scientist is aiming to give gene editing techniques an even higher level of precision. dr. david liu of the broad instite, of haard and mit,

is working on tools and techniques that will, one day, lead to the safe gene editing of humans. (upbeat stacca music) he's developing a new gene editing tool called prime editing. can you tell me a little bit about your work in that regard? - so the machines that nature provides us, like cspr-cas9, often don't do what we want them to do. the result of breaking that double helix mostrequently disrupts genes, to cause the deletion or insertion of small numbers of dna letters at the cut site. (staccato electronic music) - [kondwani] both crispr and prime editing technologies work by cutting dna. but in some sensitive situations, crispr technology can be too blunt of a tool. that's because it breaks both strands of the double helix. in rare instances, this can disrupt the gene in unintended ways. but, prime editing is more like a pair of tweezers. it breaks only one strand of the double helix,

allowing scientists to very precisely change a single base pair. this is like changing one note in a musical score. - for most diseases with a genetic component, it's bieved that in order to treat the disease, you need to precisely change that mutated gene back to the normalna sequence. - [kondwani] this ultra precise technique ans david can replace an individual mutation a on single step of dna, and not an entire section of the ladder. - so you can make those kinds of changes using prime editors. the kinds of changes that we believe could directly correct genetic diase-causing mutations. - in the lab, david has successfully corrected mutations for genetic diseases, including tay-sachs and cystic fibrosis. and he thinks this prime technology will soon be ready to help people with genetic disorders, like annabel. how far off would you say is a potential human application?

- we should have some of the first drugs ready by, perhaps, as early as within the next 5 or 10 years. it's aincredibly exciting time. if you had asked me 5 or 10 years ago, i would've said it still is in the rem of science fiction. - yeah, that wonderful. this experimental technique will become science fact, giving affected individuals the prospect of a better life. but for now, reworking the genetic codes of people remains controversial. in 2018, a researcher stunned the world by using crispr to gene edit hiv resistance into the embryos of a pair of twins. called germline editing, this technique on humans was considered premature and was widely condemned in the scientific community. - the first gene editing in humans was a profound misuse of science, with profound implications in society in general.

- [kondwani] the involved parties were punished for disregarding safetyegulations. fortunately, or unfortunately, the pandora's box of genetic engineering as been thrown wide open. - in many ways, this is one of the costs of doing science the technology, itself, is agnostic. it's neither good, nor bad. the real question is what do people do with that technology, and how careful and/or mindful are they to the potential unintended consequences that we have? - with the depth of contl over evolution that gene editing enables, in breeding plants, animals, and eventually humans, we're entering uncharted waters as a species. it's difficult to draw a hard line between where progress should stop and where our morality or our ethics should come in. some might argue that some lines have to be crossed to make progress.

(gentle inspirational music) and there has been much progress, especially in agriculture. today, more than 90% of corn and soybeans are genetically modified or gmo. these crops require less pesticide, land, and water. scientists are also using gene editing to develop crops that are more nutritious and even drought resistant. though many in the public remain skeptical, the vast majority of scientists believe gmo foods are safe. - tinkering with genes for benefit and for good purpose is actually an ethical thing to do. - [kondwani] and as humans, many believe the benefits of gene editing outweigh the risks. - there are 10,000 monogenic diseases affecting hundreds of millions of children across the world. precise medicine would help, and then we start building on that. - [kondwani] in the right hands, i think, genetic engineering will usher in a much better future for people and our planet.

some think it will even shift human evolution into overdrive. - in 30 years, we may be unrecognizable. i don't think that's gonna be our intention but when you take these big leaps and get comfortable with 'em, people get addicted. - [kondwani] i'm hopeful that gene editing technology will ultimately help people, like my aunt and annabel. for those reasons, and many more, i believe the rise of genetic engineering can't come fast enough. (gentle lilting music)

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