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Scientists recently got the go-ahead to edit genes in embryos, after permission was granted by the UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
“I was really pleased to hear the outcome.” says Dr Kathy Niakan of the Francis Crick Institute in London, the American biologist who’s leading the project. “But obviously it does await ethical approval as well.”
Creating genetically-modified (GM) embryos is controversial. Because editing genes raises ethical concerns over unintended consequences, the Society for Developmental Biology called for a moratorium on manipulating pre-implantation embryos.
Critics, meanwhile, say the research will lead to a designer baby: independent watchdog Human Genetics Alert claims that it’s “the first step in a well mapped-out process leading to GM babies, and a future of consumer eugenics.”
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But the scientists involved in the work point out that eugenics – ‘improving’ the genetic quality of people – isn’t the goal of their project, which aims to study which genes are switched-on during early development.
“Many of the genes that we’ve identified as being expressed in the human embryo are unique to the human embryo,” Niakan tells Forbes. “We think that many of these genes are likely to be important for healthy development in humans.”
Read full, original post: Genetically-Modified Human Embryos Won’t Create Designer Babies
