Gene Editing Might Alter Our DNA. It Might Destroy Our Humanity, Too.
By Mark Buchanan,
Bloomberg
| 11. 25. 2019
Biologists recently revealed a new form of the gene-editing tool known as Crispr that allows researchers to make precise changes to almost any element of DNA, permanently altering cellular biochemistry. It could help treat tens of thousands of diseases linked to variations in a single gene and lead to the creation of better antibiotics.
The latest development, called prime editing, is more accurate than older Crispr methods, which sometimes alter genomic DNA in the wrong places. The new method will be a boon to the least contentious kind of gene editing — gene therapy — which introduces genetic changes only within the body’s somatic or nonreproductive cells. One such method is already in clinical trials to treat Huntington’s disease, in which a genetic mutation leads to production of an abnormal protein in brain cells.
As gene-editing technology races ahead, scientists are agonizing over ethical issues. How, for example, can they ensure that treatments don’t cause more problems than they fix? Some genetic variants that seem clearly beneficial — lowering the risk of heart disease, for example — could have other...
Related Articles
The Center for Genetics and Society is delighted to recommend the current edition of GMWatch Review – Number 589. UK-based GMWatch, a long-standing ally, was founded in 1998 by Jonathan Matthews as an independent organization seeking to counter the enormous corporate political power and propaganda of the GMO industry and its supporters. Matthews and Claire Robinson are its directors and managing editors.
CGS works to ensure that social justice, equity, human rights, and democratic governance are front...
By Ryan Cross, Endpoints News | 08.19.2025
Human eggs are incredibly rare cells. The ovary typically produces only 400 mature eggs across a woman’s life. But biologists in George Church’s lab at Harvard University — a group that’s never content with nature’s limits — just got a...
By Katherine Drabiak, Journal of Medical Ethics Forum | 08.07.2025
Adapted from Mitochondrial DNA at
National Human Genome Research Institute
Recently, media outlets around the world have been reporting on children born from pronuclear genome transfer (sometimes called “3-parent IVF,” “mitochondrial donation” or “mitochondrial replacement therapy”) at Newcastle Fertility Center...
By Nicky Hudson, The Conversation | 08.12.2025