CRISPR is a technology that can be used to edit genes and, as such, will likely change the world. The essence of CRISPR is simple: it’s a way of finding a specific bit of DNA inside a cell.

Suffering on such an immense scale can appear hopeless. However, a technique called CRISPR gene editing promises to help deal with these issues and many more—and wise regulation can spur it on.

CRISPR-Cas systems are prokaryotic immune systems that confer resistance to foreign genetic elements such as plasmids and phages. CRISPR-Cas systems have been exploited for targeted genome editing ...