Very few people are even aware that CRISPR technology is publicly available today. For less than the cost of a good lunch for your family you can buy a kit to alter genes in your own home. For the price of a textbook you can take a class that teaches you genetic engineering online, and the class will include necessary supplies and equipment. The-odin.com is open for business today.

Patents apply to commercial use of novel technology, not to personal use. Extant mechanisms to suppress research by 'scientists' focuses on funding mechanisms. There are no means to apply such laws I am aware of that can restrict a natural person from doing whatever they want to with CRISPR. There will be clamor to put a stop to it, from every conceivable source, before long. Religious folks, sociopaths bent on world dominance, extant scientific institutions determined to remain relevant in a world where decentralization has made them obsolete, and many more, will all try to stuff the genie back in the bottle.

It won't work. The information has already been widely disseminated, and can be learned by anyone who puts forth the effort. It is not something that requires genius level IQ, because AI and other mechanisms like templates make well understood genetic engineering simple. Trying to prevent specialized equipment from being available only will force people to make their own. The cliche about abortions and coat hangers is relevant. Coat hangers aren't the tools doctors prefer, but will do the job. Same for genetic engineering. Same for every technology. I read about a kid trying to make a nuclear bomb in his garden shed. He used a bucket and a rope as a centrifuge to enrich uranium.

I predicted decades ago that people will be growing antlers before I die, and I remain confident that will happen. You're right that the implications of CRISPR are profound, and ineffable. Despite all the technological marvels we are surrounded with today, being able to alter our genes will make them all look inconsequential. The most startling thing about it is that no government, school, or group of any kind has any ability to actually control it. Individual persons will do as they will with their genes. It doesn't even matter if we think that's how it should be or not.

There's not a damn thing anyone can do to stop it. Free people have this power today, and all any of us lacks is knowledge. That knowledge is available from competent experts for nominal cost today, and if you're smart enough you can actually figger it out all by yourself. That's how the knowledge came about to begin with. It's been done, and it can be done again.

We are gonna change the world, whether we want to or not, on purpose or on accident, by changing ourselves. Given the import of our genes, it seems really important that we learn as much as possible about what can be done with them and how, so we can at least protect ourselves from mistakes that are going to be made. That's how people learn, after all: from their mistakes. It's time to start making mistakes and learning how to do this right. The kits available online start with things like yeast and frogs. That's a good place to make beginner's mistakes IMHO, rather than on ourselves.

When it comes to genomes, it's time to get crackin'.