Some bacteria developed a system
That served them quite well, it appears,
And fight off viral attacks to assist them:
The hostile genes that annoy them
With DNA markers they bracket,
And then they rush in, to destroy them,
As with precision they attack it.
Now a lady from Berkeley, CA,
Adapted this same phenomenon
To remove bits of DNA.
And thus modify most any genome.
But as frequently happened before,
With atom bombs and other inventions,
Unforeseen events came to the fore,
To upset scientific intentions:
The lady now sounds the alarm
That the method, now used with acumen,
May do immeasurable harm
When applied to the genome of humans.
Thus scientists who their labors pursue
Inside their ivory towers,
Their noble intentions may rue,
When faced with political powers...