Aggregated News
A British scientist will be able to genetically modify human embryos after being given the go ahead from an ethics committee.
Dr Kathy Niakan, of the Francis Crick Institute, will begin preparatory work on the programme following the decision by the Cambridge Central Research Ethics Committee.
The committee gave the green light to the scheme after it was approved by the fertility regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), earlier this year.
Dr Niakan will now be allowed to use a gene editing technique on surplus embryos that have been donated by consenting patients undergoing fertility treatment.
Despite the approval, the start of research may still be months away due to the difficulties of obtaining sufficient embryos.
The controversial project is thought to mark the second time the procedure will be undertaken. Scientists in China, who carried out the first experiment but are not believed to have been approved by a regulator, were met with widespread criticism.
Dr Niakan, speaking at a briefing in central London in January, said she hoped the research would...
