Human Gene Editing: A Timeline of CRISPR Cover Stories
Scientists, scholars, and social justice advocates have debated for decades about the prospect of modifying the traits we pass on to future generations. The controversy emerged well before the relevant science or technology was clearly in view, but took on new urgency in early 2015. In April of that year, researchers reported an experiment with nonviable human embryos using a new-generation genome editing tool known as CRISPR-Cas9. This research has sparked a media firestorm about engineering future children to have certain genetic factors "edited out" or "inserted in."
CRISPR gene editing is a "dual use" technology. Harnessed to help consenting patients, it may fulfill the promise of "gene therapy" for a range of diseases. But deploying CRISPR to create human babies with re-engineered genetic traits could open the door to new forms of social inequality, discrimination, and conflict. Efforts to genetically "enhance" future humans could usher us into an era of neo-eugenics – dictated not by an authoritarian regime, but by the commercial markets and consumer dynamics that favor the already privileged.
Learn more about CRISPR and human germline genetic modification:
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In the News Feed: "Inheritable Genetic Modification"
Since the debut of CRISPR, media coverage of "designer babies" has exploded, with a number of high-profile publications featuring the species-altering project on their covers and front pages. Here, we gather media highlights since early 2015, sprinkled with television appearances, public opinion polls, and editorial board statements about the prospect of gene editing for human reproduction.
View in chronological order, earliest first
A Timeline of CRISPR Cover Stories
September 1, 2016
The September 2016 issue of Scientific American. "The Future: We are remaking our world and ourselves. What's next?"
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The Human Experiment
[feature]
#5. The First Tinkering with Human Heredity May Happen in the Infertility Clinic
Stephen S. Hall
July 15, 2016
The August 2016 issue of National Geographic. "The DNA Revolution: With new gene editing techniques, we can transform life–but should we?"
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How the DNA Revolution is Changing Us
Michael Specter
Chapter on Gene Editing
Marcy Darnovsky
June 23, 2016
The July 4th issue of TIME . "The Gene Machine: What the CRISPR experiments mean for humanity"
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How the Science of CRISPR Can Change Your Genes
Alice Park, Lon Tweeten & Alexandra Sifferlin
April 2, 2016
The April 2 issue of The Spectator [UK]. "Eugenics is back: Fraser Nelson on the race for designer babies"
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The return of eugenics Fraser Nelson
March 9, 2016
The March 10th issue of Nature. "CRISPR Everywhere: Dawn of the gene editing age"
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CRISPR: gene editing is just the beginning
Heidi Ledford
Welcome to the CRISPR zoo
Sara Reardon
November 16, 2015
The November 16th issue of The New Yorker. "Can We Edit Our Genes?"
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The Gene Hackers
Michael Specter
August 22, 2015
The August 22nd issue of The Economist. "Editing humanity: The prospect of genetic enhancement"
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[Briefing]
The age of the red pen
July 20, 2015
The August 2015 issue of WIRED. "The Genesis Engine: No hunger. No pollution. No disease. And the end of life as we know it."
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Easy DNA Editing Will Remake the World. Buckle Up.
Amy Maxmen
April 21, 2015
The May/June 2015 issue of MIT Technology Review. "We Can Now Engineer the Human Race"
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Letter from the Editor: Editing Human DNA
Jason Pontin
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Last updated: September 20, 2016. |