I think CRISPR is a breakthrough for sure, it's quite unclear whether it will be "fundamental". It's a fantastic research tool. Clinical applications however ar

I think CRISPR is a breakthrough for sure, it's quite unclear whether it will be "fundamental". It's a fantastic research tool. Clinical applications however are quite a bit more challenging and at least in its current incarnation it's hard to see how they might work. CRISPR-Cas9 is a nuclease, it cuts both strands of the DNA. Doing that to your DNA is a Very Bad Thing and usually turns out poorly regardless of whether you're trying to introduce new DNA into that area. If you've got mouse cells, then cool you only care if you get a few cells get the mutation you want, and if the others are screwed who cares? You get to move on with your experiment radically more quickly than you used to be able to. But that same equation doesn't apply to humans.