The story begins in 2012 when a form of gene editing was discovered with great fanfare, it is called CRISPR Cas9. It uses “molecular scissors” to alter a very specific strand of DNA – either cutting it out, replacing it or tweaking it.
Simply CRISPR is the gene editing tech that uses ‘molecular scissors’.
But experts worry meddling with the genome of an embryo could cause harm not only to the individual but also future generations that inherit these same changes.
Hundreds of scientists, both in China and around the world, swiftly condemned his claims.
Professor Julian Savulescu, an ethics expert at the University of Oxford, said if true “this experiment is monstrous”.
“Gene editing itself is experimental and is still associated with off-target mutations, capable of causing genetic problems early and later in life, including the development of cancer,” he told the BBC. “This experiment exposes healthy normal children to risks of gene editing for no real necessary benefit.”
Many countries, including the UK, have laws that prevent the use of genome editing in embryos for assisted reproduction in humans. Scientists can do gene editing research on discarded IVF embryos, as long as they are destroyed immediately afterwards and not used to make a baby.
China allows in-vitro human embryonic stem cell research for a maximum period of 14 days, China’s Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Xu Nanping clarified.
DVDs are still here; Netflix still have 3,000,000 subscribers. The Format that refuses to go away. To read more click sirius-energy.com
