A more realistic scenario would be to develop a human embryonic stem cell culture that has been edited as desired and then implant this into a developing blastocyst at a point at which it would take over the and develop into the fetus. This is done with mice and there is no reason it wouldn't work for humans. I think that most people would find this much more abhorrent than directly editing the germline. However, it would be much safer for the engineered proband and would not require a "perfect" editing system that we do not have.
First Human Embryos Edited in U.S
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Re: First Human Embryos Edited in U.S
#12Couldn't be more excited for what's possible.
Re: First Human Embryos Edited in U.S
#13Earlier quoted context omitted.
Kind of addressed in the article. I'd still like to see more data before calling the issue "addressed". (Then again, this is a lay-press article, so I don't entirely expect a lot of detail)
Not sure I would call MIT technology review lay press
What would you call them in this case? Science press?
Still - not enough room in an article like this for too many details.
Re: First Human Embryos Edited in U.S
#14Related: 'Unexpected mutations after CRISPR–Cas9 editing in vivo' http://www.nature.com/nmeth/journal/v14/n6/full/nmeth.4293.h...
This paper was incredibly sloppy and has been widely dismissed by scientists in the field.
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/608073/gene-editing-compa...
I thought the original authors had a rebuttal, but I can't seem to find it.
Re: First Human Embryos Edited in U.S
#15Re: First Human Embryos Edited in U.S
#16The talk is of 'genetic enhancement' but the potential benefit seems more boring and necessary to me: removal of many new and as-yet-unidentified mutations. It is thought that these have been accumulating generation by generation since about 1800 when child mortality started to fall.
Also, to support your claim, one would need evidence that the child mortality of the past reflected genetic unfitness (as opposed to poverty or the unavailability of antibiotics).
Re: First Human Embryos Edited in U.S
#17We would need a very particular set of conditions for embryonic editing to be justifiable under a medical dogma that aims to "do no harm." Both parents would need to carry a large common set of recessive deleterious alleles, as this would make embryonic selection of non-carriers very difficult. Then we would need the editing system to be so reliable as to not introduce off-target mutations. In a preimplantation setti…
Re: First Human Embryos Edited in U.S
#18I am so insanely excited for the potential of this technology. There are many ethical questions here, but the potential benefits far outweigh the downsides. In the near future, we can detect and eliminate genetic disorders, ensuring no child has to suffer from these defects any longer. Long term, this gives us a tool to take control of our own evolution in a way never before possible. Couldn't be more excited for wha…
Re: First Human Embryos Edited in U.S
#19The talk is of 'genetic enhancement' but the potential benefit seems more boring and necessary to me: removal of many new and as-yet-unidentified mutations. It is thought that these have been accumulating generation by generation since about 1800 when child mortality started to fall.