Gene Editing of Embryos Gives Insight Into Basic Human Biology
By Marissa Fessenden,
Smithsonian.com [cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky]
| 09. 21. 2017
A genetic tool allows researchers to disable a gene key to human development in a closely regulated experiment
For the first time, scientists edited a gene in fertilized human eggs critical to early development. The experiments helped the researchers learn about fundamental human biology in a way they could not through research on mice.
Researchers led by Kathy Niakan, a developmental biologist at the Francis Crick Institute in London, disabled a gene that codes for a protein called OCT4, known to be active in stem cells that can develop into all the cell types found in the body, reports Gretchen Vogel for Science. Turning the gene off ensured that cells from fertilized human eggs failed to form placental cells, yolk sac cells or even cells that would typically become a fetus.
Disabling the same gene in mouse embryos gives different results: Those embryos became balls of mostly placental cells. The findings suggest that the gene controls the fate of several cell lineages and plays a slightly different role in humans than in mice.
"This is opening up the possibility...
Related Articles
By Marianne Lamers, NEMO Kennislink [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 09.23.2025
Een rijtje gespreide vulva’s gaapt de bezoeker aan. Zó ziet een bevalling eruit, en zó een baarmoeder met foetus. Een zwangerschap, maar dan zonder zwangere vrouw, gestript van zorgen, gêne en pijn. De zwangerschapsmodellen en oefenbekkens, te zien in de...
By Auriane Polge, Science & Vie [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 09.19.2025
L’idée de pouvoir choisir certaines caractéristiques de son futur enfant a longtemps relevé de la science-fiction ou du débat éthique. Aujourd’hui, les technologies de séquençage et les algorithmes d’analyse génétique repoussent les limites de ce qui semblait encore impossible. Au croisement...
By Charmayne Allison, ABC News | 09.21.2025
It has been seven years since Chinese biophysicist He Jiankui made an announcement that shocked the world's scientists.
He had made the world's first gene-edited babies.
Through rewriting DNA in twin girls' embryos, the man who would later be dubbed...
By Natalie Ram, Anya E. R. Prince, Jessica L. Roberts, Dov Fox, and Kayte Spector-Bagdady, Science | 09.11.2025
After declaring bankruptcy in March 2025, direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing company 23andMe sold the data of more than 15 million people around the world to TTAM Research Institute, a nonprofit organization created by 23andMe’s founder and long-time CEO. 23andMe’s customers...