CRISPR-Cas9 is a method for genome editing, which could potentially be used for the purpose of gene therapy in humans. Here I am going to generally describe the method and list a few examples of its application. The CRISPR technology is a great prospect in the field of research and treatment of genetic diseases. Up until now, the CRISPR-Cas9 method was only clinically used ex-vivo. But lately, there are more and more possibilities of its in vivo use. CRISPR-Cas9 system is applicable for a wide range of purposes such as gene therapy, the creation of genetically modified animal models for the study of the human disease's pathology, making multiple mutations in genome, increasing the manipulation of the epigenome and for the purposes of regenerative medicine. There are two types of gene therapy with CRISPR-Cas9: somatic and germline therapy. In comparison with somatic therapy, the germline therapy is currently forbidden because of ethical dilemmas and a lack of scientific data. The current only use is on the level of research. Germline therapy is an ethically controversial topic, for which adequate regulation still does exits. The purpose of this thesis is also to present the ethical issues that we are faced with the potential use of the CRISPR-Cas method.
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