US group questions human embryo research, calls for rules
By DPA,
Deutsche Presse-Agentur [cites Marcy Darnovsky]
| 05. 14. 2008
A US public interest group has called for the US to set up national bioethics standards and regulations on embryonic research after a group of scientists in New York State produced a genetically-engineered embryo, dpa reported.
The Center for Genetics and Society, located in Oakland, California, said Tuesday the need for such standards was clear after the research at Cornell University was brought to light by a London newspaper over the weekend. Britain is in the process of revamping its genetic research laws.
Marcy Darnovsky of the Center for Genetics and Society told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the US urgently needs federal bioethical standards and a regulatory panel similar to those in Canada and Britain or even Germany, which has some of the most stringent rules on genetic research.
"The prospect of genetic technology being used to introduce new types of genetic inequality and social division, to create genetically-enhanced children is the core of our concern," Darnovsky said.
A brief account of the study by scientists at Cornell University was published in September 2007 in the journal Fertility and Sterility...
Related Articles
By Samuelle Fajutrao Falk , The Conversation | 06.26.2026
When my colleagues and I asked autistic people and parents of autistic children in Sweden how they feel about genetic research in autism, one response stood out: “I hope genetic research finds new ways to help us, not erase us.”...
By Rebecca Simkin, BioNews | 06.29.2026
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is allowing biotech company Regenxbio to reapply for licensing of a gene therapy for Hunter syndrome, in a reversal of its previous decision. Hunter syndrome, or mucopolysaccharidosis type II (MPS II), is a...
By Marisa Flook , BioNews | 06.29.2026
An anti-ageing gene therapy not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is set to be offered by an American company at overseas clinics outside of US jurisdiction.
The treatment, developed by Minicircle from Austin, Texas, uses a...
By Paul Knoepfler, Stat | 06.24.2026
What if you could precisely change the genome of a pre-implantation human embryo and then safely use that embryo to try to generate a healthier person? It’s a wild idea, but one that technology over the past decade has steadily...
