Scientist's Claim of Genetically-Edited Babies Renews Ethics Concerns
By Michael Krasny,
KQED [features CGS' Marcy Darnovsky]
| 11. 28. 2018
A scientist in China announced this week that he had created the world's first genetically-edited human babies. In an announcement that shocked many, including scientists and ethicists, He Jiankui said he altered a gene in the embryos of twin girls to make them resistant to H.I.V. Forum talks about the future and ethics of using new gene editing tools like CRISPR to create genetically-altered humans.
Guests:
Marcy Darnovsky, executive director, Center for Genetics and Society
Dr. Fyodor Urnov, visiting researcher, Innovative Genomics Institute at UC Berkeley; former vice president, Sangamo
Dr. Alex Marson, head of UC San Francisco's Marson Lab
Related Articles
By Adithi Ramakrishnan, AP News | 08.05.2026
NEW YORK (AP) — Matt Walker couldn’t pet a dog without sneezing — until he and other scientists used a gene editing technique to produce a hypoallergenic beagle named Bailey.
Now, he can feed Bailey spoons of peanut butter while...
By Jessica Hamzelou, MIT Technology Review | 07.23.2026
When it comes to organ donation, time is everything. As soon as an organ has been carefully removed from a donor’s body, it starts to deteriorate. Surgeons have a matter of hours to get it into a recipient. Leave...
By Edward Chen, Nature | 07.28.2026
A small number of fertility clinics around the world are offering a controversial treatment: a procedure to furnish clients’ embryos with donated mitochondria as a way to increase the chances of taking home a baby.
The method, called mitochondrial replacement...
By Lauren Roberts, ABC News | 06.23.2026
Deanna Carr's early 20s looked very different to most people's.
"While everyone was travelling Europe and doing all those great things, I was hanging out in IVF clinics," she said.
"It felt very isolating. None of my friends were going...