First gene-edited babies claimed in China
mainichi.jp
First gene-edited babies claimed in China
1–10 of 281 posts
Re: First gene-edited babies claimed in China
#2the first edit is HIV resistance, not a bad way to start the black mirror episode that is the rest of our lives from now on.
Re: First gene-edited babies claimed in China
#3in vitro sex selection (mostly for male children) has been going on for a long time, seems the next logical step:
https://www.google.com/search?&q=in+vitro+sex+selection+chin...
Re: First gene-edited babies claimed in China
#4https://apnews.com/4997bb7aa36c45449b488e19ac83e86d
Has more info
Re: First gene-edited babies claimed in China
#5The edited gene is for CCR5, which currently doesn’t have known function, but is the entry point for HIV. So editing for prophylaxis. This was probably done because if there aren’t a ton of loss of function beneficial traits, and probably with the main desire to be first. Except, if the reports are true, this is not just an experiment but a person (or people). I guess the main desire is to normalize editing. Brave new world I guess, whether we like it or not.
Re: First gene-edited babies claimed in China
#6This is quite interesting. There is a certain very small percentage of the world's population that is immune to the HIV virus. These people's T-cells have the CD4 receptor, but not the CCR5 receptor. The HIV virus needs both these receptors to successfully affect the host's cells. The absence of the CCR5 receptor still allows the person's T cells to function normally, so if this works, it can pave the way to creating offspring who are immune to HIV
Re: First gene-edited babies claimed in China
#7The edited gene is for CCR5, which currently doesn’t have known function, but is the entry point for HIV. So editing for prophylaxis. This was probably done because if there aren’t a ton of loss of function beneficial traits, and probably with the main desire to be first. Except, if the reports are true, this is not just an experiment but a person (or people). I guess the main desire is to normalize editing. Brave ne…
I guess time will tell if it leads to any adverse effects. I'm not a biologist which is probably why I'm more wary of this, but if there is some unforeseen circumstances then we'll find out I suppose.
Re: First gene-edited babies claimed in China
#8> It's "unconscionable ... an experiment on human beings that is not morally or ethically defensible," said Dr. Kiran Musunuru, a University of Pennsylvania gene editing expert and editor of a genetics journal.
This is 100% correct.
(COI: Kiran was my postdoc while I was a student in the lab a decade ago.)
Re: First gene-edited babies claimed in China
#9The edited gene is for CCR5, which currently doesn’t have known function, but is the entry point for HIV. So editing for prophylaxis. This was probably done because if there aren’t a ton of loss of function beneficial traits, and probably with the main desire to be first. Except, if the reports are true, this is not just an experiment but a person (or people). I guess the main desire is to normalize editing. Brave ne…
the edit was also confirmed and voluntarily implanted in-vitro in willing participants.
It's ethically black as far as I am concerned but it has already happened so we must see where this takes us. IVF born edited zygotes might have serious complications but ideally its a healthy human being. (for everyone's sake)
Re: First gene-edited babies claimed in China
#10in vitro sex selection (mostly for male children) has been going on for a long time, seems the next logical step: https://www.google.com/search?&q=in+vitro+sex+selection+chin...
Gender selection, will have adverse effect without a doubt, nature has a healthy balance between the number of men and women in the world, and certain culture preferring boys / girls will lead to us having too much of one and not enough of the other. There is already evidence of this in China and India.