Tag: CRISPR

The Dark Side of CRISPR

Its potential ability to “fix” people at the genetic level is a threat to those who are judged by society to be biologically inferior

Scientific American

Sandy Sufian, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson

Americans have celebrated the fact that the Biden administration is embracing science and returning the country to evidence-based policymaking. We agree that science should guide policy—except in cases where it wouldn’t assist people to live their lives but would, instead, exclude them.

The CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology, for which biochemists Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, has the potential to do just that. So do other forms of scientific technologies. We should therefore always be aware of the ethical choices these technologies can pose. . . continue reading

Scientists Attempt Controversial Experiment To Edit DNA In Human Sperm Using CRISPR

National Public Radio

Rob Stein

First it was human embryos. Now scientists are trying to develop another way to modify human DNA that can be passed on to future generations, NPR has learned.

Reproductive biologists at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City are attempting to use the powerful gene-editing technique called CRISPR to alter genes in human sperm. NPR got exclusive access to watch the controversial experiments underway. . . [Full text]

He did it: uproar over Chinese gene-edited babies

BioEdge

Michael Cook

A Chinese scientist has faced widespread condemnation for editing the genome of two babies at his lab in the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, together with an American colleague.

The researcher, He Jiankui, outlined his work at the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing in Hong Kong. His experiments have not been peer reviewed or published so it is impossible for other scientists to verify his claims. In a Q&A session, He came under heavy fire from other scientists. . . Full text