Abstract
Since determining the structure of the DNA double helix, the study of genes and genomes has revolutionized contemporary science; with the decoding of the human genome, new findings have been achieved, including the ability that humans have developed to modify genetic sequences in vitro. The discovery of gene modification mechanisms, such as the CRISPR-Cas system (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) and Cas (CRISPR associated). Derived from the latest discoveries in genetics, the idea that science has no limits has exploded. However, improvements in genetic engineering allowed access to new possibilities to save lives or generate new treatment options for diseases that are not treatable by using genes and their modification in the genome. With this greater knowledge, the immediate question is who governs the limits of genetic science? The first answer would be the intervention of a legislative branch, with adequate scientific advice, from which the logical answer, bioethics, should result. This term was introduced for the first time by Van Rensselaer Potter, who in 1970 combined the Greek words bios and ethos, Bio-Ethik, which determined the study of the morality of human behavior in science. The approach to this term was introduced to avoid the natural tension that results from the scientific technical development and the ethics of limits. Therefore, associating the use of biotechnology through the CRISPR-Cas system and the regulation through bioethics, aims to monitor the use of techniques and technology, with benefits for humanity, without altering fundamental rights, acting with moral and ethical principles.
Highlights
Since the discovery of the DNA structure described by Watson and Crick in 1953, the generation of knowledge about the molecular genetic bases began
The CRISPRCas genomic loci consist of a CRISPR array composed of direct repeats with unique spacers between them and the Cas genes, the number of these arrays that one genome can harbor ranges from 1 to 18, while the number of repeat units in one array ranges from 2 to 374 (Marraffini and Sontheimer, 2010)
These systems, more widely known as genome engineering tools, achieve immunity by incorporating fragments of foreign nucleic acids into the CRISPR arrays, enabling a series of proteins to sense by base-pair complementarity to perform the cleavage of the specific DNA or RNA sequences from the exogenic elements (Makarova et al, 2020)
Summary
Since the discovery of the DNA structure described by Watson and Crick in 1953, the generation of knowledge about the molecular genetic bases began. The CRISPRCas genomic loci consist of a CRISPR array composed of direct repeats with unique spacers between them and the Cas genes, the number of these arrays that one genome can harbor ranges from 1 to 18, while the number of repeat units in one array ranges from 2 to 374 (Marraffini and Sontheimer, 2010) These systems, more widely known as genome engineering tools, achieve immunity by incorporating fragments of foreign nucleic acids into the CRISPR arrays, enabling a series of proteins to sense by base-pair complementarity to perform the cleavage of the specific DNA or RNA sequences from the exogenic elements (Makarova et al, 2020). The question arises as to whether the modified genetic sequences are patentable (Capella, 2016; Bhan et al, 2017)
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