New Push to Make Editing Human Embryos Legal Comes Under Scrutiny

Heritable genome editing in human embryos is once again under intense scrutiny after the publication of an opinion piece in Trends in Genetics at the end of last month.¹ In the paper, Cathy Tie, the founder and chief executive officer of the startup Origin Genomics, proposes that recent advances in genome editing technologies and an increase in public support might finally convince regulators to lift restrictions on the controversial field.

Scientists Claim They Have Overcome Technical Barriers

Tie said in an interview with NPR that she and her team at Origin are working with human embryos donated by couples who carry inherited genetic mutations that cause conditions such as Huntington's disease, cystic fibrosis, Tay-Sachs, and hereditary cancers. By extracting stem cells from the embryos, the researchers can test different existing genome editing systems, such as CRISPR-Cas9, to see which will safely edit the disease-causing mutations. They are also using artificial intelligence to design new precision-editing systems and testing them in induced pluripotent stem cells that carry relevant mutations.

“My hope is that one day Origin Genomics...