[the5avage]

Changing code you don't understand can have effects you did not intend.

Who would have expected that?

[maxerickson]

They are more or less exactly describing the change they are making, indicating they do understand the code, they just can't edit it cleanly.

[the5avage]

Oh, maybe I missed that we already completely understand how DNA works.

[maxerickson]

Yes, we do understand the mutations that we would target with something like crispr, where protein coding has been disrupted by a small error.

[the5avage]

Ok, but since we don't understand everything about DNA, that can have unwanted side effects.

Are you making fun of me or do you really not understand that?

[maxerickson]

I'm not making fun of you, it's just that we do know what point mutations are and understand things well enough that there won't be unwanted side effects to fixing them when they are causing significant problems.

Not being able to cleanly fix just the mutation is a separate issue from that understanding.