UK regulators give go-ahead for 'embryo editing'

"UK scientists have been given the go-ahead by the fertility regulator to genetically modify human embryos," BBC News reports. The UK body that regulates research into embryos – the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) – has given a licence to Dr Kathy Niakan for her research on stem cells at The Francis Crick Institute in London.The licence provides permission for genome editing techniques to be used on donated embryos for up to 14 days. The UK is the first country in the world to make this type of research legal. It remains illegal to implant modified embryos in women. What is genome editing?Genome editing uses a range of molecular techniques to make changes to the genome – the complete set of DNA – of individual organisms.Genome editing can: modify genetic information to create new characteristics remove regions from genomes – for example, those that can cause genetic diseases add genes from other organisms to specific locations within a genome The editing process modifies the actual nucleotides – the "letters" of DNA (A, T, C, G) – of genetic code.Dr Niakan plans to use a genome-editing technique called CRISPR-Cas 9, which has become increasingly popular as it is powerful, reliable, quick and relatively inexpensive.CRISPR-Cas9 uses a combination of the Cas9 protein and a strand of RNA to make breaks in strands of DNA. New genetic code can then be placed inside the breaks, which can allow genetic code ...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Genetics/stem cells QA articles Pregnancy/child Source Type: news