People are starting to alter their own DNA with cheap, easy gene-editing technology. Is it time to regulate CRISPR?

Josiah Zayner has edited his DNA The ODIN Inc.

GENE editing is entering the mainstream. CRISPR, a cheap and easy technique for making precise changes to DNA, has got researchers around the world racing to trial its use in treating a host of human diseases.

But this race is not confined to the lab. Last month, Josiah Zayner, a biochemist who once worked for NASA, became the first person known to have edited his own genes with CRISPR.

During a lecture about human genetic engineering that was streamed live on Facebook, Zayner whipped out a vial and a …