Stem Cell Experts Support Using CRISPR In Human Embryos
By Steph Yin,
Popular Science
| 09. 10. 2015
Untitled Document
Almost six months ago exactly, a group of scientists published an editorial in Nature entitled “Don’t edit the human germ line” in response to the rapid development and rising popularity of an accurate and easy-to-use gene-editing technique called CRISPR-Cas9. Their article was a strongly-worded entreaty for the scientific community to cease any and all gene-editing research in human reproductive cells, or the germline. The unknown risks of germline editing on future generations gravely outweigh the possible benefits, argued the authors.
Their words turned out to be like a gate in front of a growing surge of water — quickly the rising tide became too much to contain. Just a week after the Nature editorial was published, another group of scientists, including one of the inventors of CRISPR-Cas9, published a letter in Science calling for a “prudent path forward” instead of a moratorium. The authors of the Science article argued that germline engineering offered real promises — such as that of curing genetic diseases — that were worth exploring.
A month later, researchers in China announced that they...
Related Articles
CGS is excited to announce the launch of a new anti-eugenics initiative that has been years in the making. Legacies of Eugenics in Science, Medicine, and Technology kicks off with a monthly essay series published at the Los Angeles Review of Books that will expose and contest the reemergence of eugenic ideas in contemporary health sciences, human biotechnology, public health, and medicine. Community and campus-based events featuring the authors are also being planned. The project is a collaboration among CGS...
By Jason Kehe, Wired | 04.11.2024
God help the babies! Or, absent God, a fertility startup called Orchid. It offers prospective parents a fantastical choice: Have a regular baby or have an Orchid baby. A regular baby might grow up and get cancer. Or be born...
By Neel Shah, The Preprint | 04.11.2024
Years ago, I interviewed for a residency position at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Standing before the domed Victorian building at the campus entrance, I couldn’t help but be in awe of the history of the place, the great...
By Eleanor Hayward and Joanna Crawford, The Times | 03.29.2024
Gazing out at the Mediterranean from an idyllic rocky mountaintop, Sophie Hermann announced to her half a million Instagram followers that she had decided to freeze her eggs. Since that post in August, the 37-year-old former Made in Chelsea star...