Black Swans of CRISPR: Stochasticity and Complexity of Genetic Regulation

Bioessays. 2019 Jul;41(7):e1900032. doi: 10.1002/bies.201900032. Epub 2019 May 15.

Abstract

Recent waves of controversies surrounding genetic engineering have spilled into popular science in Twitter battles between reputable scientists and their followers. Here, a cautionary perspective on the possible blind spots and risks of CRISPR and related biotechnologies is presented, focusing in particular on the stochastic nature of cellular control processes.

Keywords: CRISPR; biotechnology; gene regulatory networks; genetic editing; noise; nonlinear dynamics; stochasticity.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • CRISPR-Cas Systems / genetics*
  • Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats / genetics*
  • Gene Editing*
  • Gene Expression Regulation / genetics*
  • Humans