Don ’t fear the rise of designer babies, gene editing is about curing disease | Kenan Malik
If we had given in to such hysteria over IVF, Louise Brown would never have been born‘Designer babies on horizon”, ran the headlines. Last week, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, an independent body advising on policy,published a report on genome editing and human reproduction.New scientific techniques, such as CRISPR-Cas9 – molecular “scissors” that allow scientists to snip the genome at specific points – have transformed genetics in recent years and raised questions about what is practically possible and ethically acceptable. Despite the lurid headlines, they are not ushering in a new world of designer babie s.Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Kenan Malik Tags: Genetics Biology Science IVF Health Fertility problems Society Source Type: news
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