It's a scenario that has haunted biologists since the dawn of the DNA
age: the evil scientist custom-crafting a human being with test tubes
and Petri dishes.
So when a Chinese team revealed last month that
it had used a new laboratory technique to alter a gene in human embryos,
it set off an urgent debate over the ethics — and wisdom — of tinkering
with the most basic building blocks of life.
The technology makes genetic manipulations that were theoretical in the past seem easy to achieve — and soon.
If
scientists figure out how to do it in a way that's safe for patients,
gene editing could produce tremendously beneficial medical treatments.
The Chinese researchers, for instance, were trying to repair a defect
that causes beta thalassemia, a potentially fatal blood disorder.
But a simple way to alter DNA could open the door to more frightening eugenic pursuits. That makes people nervous.
Read more: http://www.latimes.com/science/la-sci-gene-editing-embryo-20150503-story.html?AID=7236#page#page=1&page=1
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