Britain Givers Scientists Go-ahead to Genetically Modify Human Embryos - Rawan For Media Artistic and Production
Scientists in Britain have been give the go-ahead to edit the genes of
human embryos for research, using a technique that some say could
eventually be used to create "designer babies".
Less
than a year after Chinese scientists caused an international furore by
saying they had genetically modified human embryos, Kathy Niakan, a stem
cell scientist from London's Francis Crick Institute, was granted a
licence to carry out similar experiments.
"The
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has approved a
research application from the Francis Crick Institute to use new 'gene
editing' techniques on human embryos," Niakan's lab said on Monday.
It
said the work carried out "will be for research purposes and will look
at the first seven days of a fertilised egg's development, from a single
cell to around 250 cells".
Niakan
plans to carry out her experiments using CRISPR-Cas9, a technology that
is already the subject of fierce international debate because of fears
that it could be used to create babies to order.
CRISPR
can enable scientists to find and modify or replace genetic defects,
and many of them have described it as "game-changing".
David
King, director of the UK campaign group Human Genetics Alert, has
called Niakan's plans "the first step on a path ... towards the
legalisation of GM babies".
Niakan
says she has no intention of genetically altering embryos for use in
human reproduction, but wants to deepen scientific understanding of how a
healthy human embryo develops, something that could, in the long term,
help to improve infertility treatments.
At
a briefing for reporters in London last month, she said the first gene
she planned to target was one called Oct4, which she believes may have a
crucial role in the earliest stages of human foetal development.
Bruce
Whitelaw, a professor of animal biotechnology at Edinburgh University's
Roslin Institute on Scotland, said the HFEA's decision had been reached
"after robust assessment".
"This
project, by increasing our understanding of how the early human embryo
develops and grows, will add to the basic scientific knowledge needed
for devising strategies to assist infertile couples and reduce the
anguish of miscarriage," he said in an emailed comment.
By Reuters, 15 hours 29 minutes ago
Scientists in Britain have been give the go-ahead to edit the genes of
human embryos for research, using a technique that some say could
eventually be used to create "designer babies".
Less
than a year after Chinese scientists caused an international furore by
saying they had genetically modified human embryos, Kathy Niakan, a stem
cell scientist from London's Francis Crick Institute, was granted a
licence to carry out similar experiments.
"The
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has approved a
research application from the Francis Crick Institute to use new 'gene
editing' techniques on human embryos," Niakan's lab said on Monday.
It
said the work carried out "will be for research purposes and will look
at the first seven days of a fertilised egg's development, from a single
cell to around 250 cells".
Niakan
plans to carry out her experiments using CRISPR-Cas9, a technology that
is already the subject of fierce international debate because of fears
that it could be used to create babies to order.
CRISPR
can enable scientists to find and modify or replace genetic defects,
and many of them have described it as "game-changing".
David
King, director of the UK campaign group Human Genetics Alert, has
called Niakan's plans "the first step on a path ... towards the
legalisation of GM babies".
Niakan
says she has no intention of genetically altering embryos for use in
human reproduction, but wants to deepen scientific understanding of how a
healthy human embryo develops, something that could, in the long term,
help to improve infertility treatments.
At
a briefing for reporters in London last month, she said the first gene
she planned to target was one called Oct4, which she believes may have a
crucial role in the earliest stages of human foetal development.
Bruce
Whitelaw, a professor of animal biotechnology at Edinburgh University's
Roslin Institute on Scotland, said the HFEA's decision had been reached
"after robust assessment".
"This
project, by increasing our understanding of how the early human embryo
develops and grows, will add to the basic scientific knowledge needed
for devising strategies to assist infertile couples and reduce the
anguish of miscarriage," he said in an emailed comment.
By Reuters, 15 hours 29 minutes ago
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