Gene editing: Is era of designer humans getting closer?
By Fergus Walsh,
BBC
| 12. 03. 2015
[cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky]
An international meeting of leading scientists has said it would be "irresponsible" to allow the creation of genetically altered humans.
But they said basic research involving embryo gene editing should continue in order to improve understanding of human biology.
As scientific knowledge advances and societal views evolve, they added, the clinical use of genetically modified embryos should be revisited on a "regular basis".
The gene editing summit in Washington was organised to discuss new techniques which enable researchers to alter human DNA.
Genetic enhancement has been a favourite theme for science fiction writers. The film Gattaca imagined a world where children were conceived through gene manipulation.
A Brave New World of designer humans - although still a long way off - has moved a step closer as a result new gene editing techniques.
Three years ago scientists invented a new simple cut-and-paste system, called CRISPR-Cas9, for editing DNA.
Scientists across the world immediately adopted this rapid, cheap and accessible tool in order to speed up their research.
For patients with blood, immune, muscle or skin disorders it offers the hope...
Related Articles
By Jenny Lange, BioNews | 12.01.2025
A UK toddler with a rare genetic condition was the first person to receive a new gene therapy that appears to halt disease progression.
Oliver, now three years old, has Hunter syndrome, an inherited genetic disorder that leads to physical...
By Grace Won, KQED [with CGS' Katie Hasson] | 12.02.2025
In the U.S., it’s illegal to edit genes in human embryos with the intention of creating a genetically engineered baby. But according to the Wall Street Journal, Bay Area startups are focused on just that. It wouldn’t be the first...
By Pam Belluck and Carl Zimmer, The New York Times | 11.19.2025
Gene-editing therapies offer great hope for treating rare diseases, but they face big hurdles: the tremendous time and resources involved in devising a treatment that might only apply to a small number of patients.
A study published on Wednesday...
Several recent Biopolitical Times posts (1, 2, 3, 4) have called attention to the alarmingly rapid commercialization of “designer baby” technologies: polygenic embryo screening (especially its use to purportedly screen for traits like intelligence), in vitro gametogenesis (lab-made eggs and sperm), and heritable genome editing (also termed embryo editing or reproductive gene editing). Those three, together with artificial wombs, have been dubbed the “Gattaca stack” by Brian Armstrong, CEO of the cryptocurrency company...
