What we know about gene-editing experiments in Britain

Others, however, remain concerned that this landmark decision will only open the door for “designer babies” that surpass health research endeavors and experiment with designing every aspect of a baby’s physicality and intelligence.

“If we were to understand the genes, it could really help us improve infertility treatment and provide crucial insights into the causes of miscarriage”, she explained.

Owing to fears that improper alterations from the experiments could be carried down through future generations, leading scientists in the United States, Britain and China produced a statement a year ago calling for a voluntary worldwide suspension of DNA editing.

Genetic editing entails identifying, isolating, and deleting, repairing, or replacing tiny bits of DNA inside of a cell.

-Gene-editing is a technique which allows scientists to manipulate the structure of DNA which could be used to to remove errors in the genetic code that lead to hereditary diseases.

“Dr Niakan’s proposed research is important for understanding how a healthy human embryo develops and will enhance our understanding of IVF success rates”, said Paul Nurse, director of the Crick Institute. This way, Britain became the first country to allow genetically modified embryos to be transferred into women. Most of the research is centered around the first week of cell development, when a human fertilized egg goes from one cell to 250 cells. Regulations only allow her to study the embryos for up to 14 days, which will be supplied from donors with a surplus of embryos after completing in vitro fertilization. It’s a huge moment in biotech history – one that could eventually lead to “designer babies”.

Scientists in China made headlines previous year when they announced their application of CRISPR/Cas9 to modify structurally deficient human zygotes.

Scientists, who are searching for clues to what happens in the first seven days after fertilisation and want to investigate miscarriage, will not be able to implant the embryos into women. “I am delighted that the HFEA has approved Niakan’s application”.

“This is the first step on a path that scientists have carefully mapped out towards the legalization of (genetically modified) babies”, David King of advocacy group Human Genetics Alert said last month when the British fertility regulator met on the topic.

Concerning human embryonic research and IVF, the Catholic Church has condemned both practices as being “clearly and unequivocally” immoral. Fox News reported that the US government won’t fund experiments of this nature, however, there are no restrictions for private-funded researchers.