Surprises at new frontier trump a tool’s potential power
By Eva Emerson
Lists invite disagreements, as I’ve said before (see last year’s Top 25 science stories, for example). And Science News molecular biology writer Tina Hesman Saey was not alone in arguing that the new gene-editing tool CRISPR/Cas9 should snag the top spot this year over Pluto. Readers taking part in a poll ranking our top five picks for science story of the year also weighed in for CRISPR (see this issue’s reader feedback). Even astronomy writer Christopher Crockett noted, “Well, CRISPR does have the potential to wipe out infectious disease and get rid of invasive species, so I suppose it might have one or two more practical benefits than the exploration of Pluto.” But, he added, “need I remind readers which one has ice volcanoes?”
CRISPR/Cas9 is indeed an exciting technological advance with the promise to change the world (with all the ethical baggage that accompanies such power). It has also attracted a lot of attention this year. It elicits deep questions about the power of science and how we might want to limit it. (Is it OK to eliminate a pernicious species like mosquitoes? Should we permanently change human genes in future generations?)