RE “CRISPR and the capitalists’’ (Opinion, Sept. 4): Jim Kozubek argues that science could progress just fine without government support. He makes his case mainly by describing the development of CRISPR-Cas9 as a system for genetic engineering in human cells, with a narrative beginning in 2011.

But by 2011, it had already been known for a few years that naturally occurring CRISPR-Cas systems could be deliberately programmed to target any gene, as shown in a 2008 paper by scientists Kozubek does not mention. Moreover, that 2008 advance built upon two decades of curiosity-driven research by government-funded scientists around the world.

The key question Kozubek fails to address is this: Will capitalists fund the basic research that leads to the discovery and understanding of wondrous things such as CRISPR-Cas, many years before their money-making possibilities become completely obvious?

Anthony Poteete

Northborough