He has heard from other UK scientists who are interested in pursuing
embryo editing research, he says, and expects that more applications will follow.
Not exact matches
But organizers of the International Summit on Human Gene
Editing said editing genes in human embryos was permissible for research purposes, so long as the modified cells would not be implanted to establish a pre
Editing said
editing genes in human embryos was permissible for research purposes, so long as the modified cells would not be implanted to establish a pre
editing genes in human
embryos was permissible for
research purposes, so long as the modified cells would not be implanted to establish a pregnancy.
Research on a new «gene editing» technology known as CRISPR — which theoretically allows any cell or organism to have its genome altered — is advancing exponentially, with early research ongoing on human embryos created for that
Research on a new «gene
editing» technology known as CRISPR — which theoretically allows any cell or organism to have its genome altered — is advancing exponentially, with early
research ongoing on human embryos created for that
research ongoing on human
embryos created for that purpose.
«Our licence committee has approved an application from Dr. Kathy Niakan of the Francis Crick Institute to renew her laboratory's
research licence to include gene
editing of
embryos,» the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority said in a statement.
Researchers in other countries have
edited human
embryos to learn more about early human development or to answer other basic
research questions (SN: 4/15/17, p. 16).
Concerns have been stirred by reports of
research in China to correct disease - causing genetic mutations in non-viable
embryos in 2015 and the granting, by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), of a licence to allow genome
editing of
embryos in the UK February 2016.
«Understanding how gene
editing works in human
embryos will require
research in human
embryos,» because mouse
embryos, for example, have species - specific developmental differences, notes Dana Carroll, a biochemistry professor at the University of Utah who
researches CRISPR.
Scientists in London have been granted permission to
edit the genomes of human
embryos for
research, UK fertility regulators announced today.
A human
embryo —
editing paper from a different Chinese team published in April 2015 touched off a worldwide debate about the ethics of such experiments and led to calls for a
research moratorium.
Although there needs to be a wide discussion of the safety and ethics of
editing embryos and reproductive cells, they say, the potential to eliminate inherited diseases means that scientists should pursue
research.
A year of discussion about the ethics of
embryo -
editing research, and perhaps simply the passage of time, seems to have blunted its controversial edge — although such work remains subject to the same ethical anxieties that surround other reproductive - biology experiments.
Earlier this year, developmental biologist Robin Lovell - Badge, also at the Francis Crick Institute, told Nature that he thought that the carefully considered UK approval might embolden other researchers who are interested in pursuing
embryo -
editing research.
«People are more understanding of this
research,» says Fan, who points to UK fertility regulators» approval in February of a proposal by developmental biologist Kathy Niakan to
edit genes in healthy human
embryos, at the Francis Crick Institute in London.
Fan's paper should help to reassure international observers about the legitimacy of human -
embryo -
editing research in China, says Robin Lovell - Badge, a developmental biologist at the Crick.
Daley sees a stark contrast between Fan's work and
research approved in February by UK fertility regulators that will allow CRISPR genome
editing of human
embryos.
U.K. first to approve gene
editing of human
embryos for
research.
The paper has split scientists, with consensus on the need for a moratorium on clinical applications but disagreement about whether to support basic
research on
editing genes in human sperm, eggs, or
embryos.
Shortly after the work was published, the US National Institutes of Health reaffirmed its ban on funding gene -
editing research in human
embryos — a ban that would likely also apply to non-viable
embryos, it said.
Editing the genomes of human
embryos for a therapeutic use — for example, to eradicate a genetic disease — is illegal in the United Kingdom, but
research work is possible under licence from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA).
A week later, a network of stem - cell researchers, bioethicists and policy experts called the Hinxton Group, said that after meetings in Manchester, UK, they had concluded that
research involving genome
editing in human
embryos has «tremendous value to basic
research».
Like other bodies that have recently reviewed CRISPR and older genome
editing methods, the committee also endorsed basic
research using
embryo editing to study areas such as early human development.
International consensus about genome
editing of human
embryos remains no more likely than about
embryo research in general: Some countries ban it while others actively promote and fund it.
The debate about genomic
editing of human
embryos is unlikely to follow the recommendations for systematic forethought proposed by illustrious
research bodies and reports.
All of the reports on genome
editing call for robust public debate, but the simple fact is that
embryo research has proven highly divisive and resistant to consensus, and it is far from clear how to know when there is enough thoughtful deliberation to make policy choices.
It has been reported that a
research group in China has used the CRISPR genome
editing technique to modify human
embryos with a specific genetic default.
In the past few days, you may have heard about new
research describing the
editing of the DNA sequence in human
embryos.
And
editing the DNA in
embryos is controversial even among people who think human embryonic
research is acceptable.
Shoukhrat Mitalipov of Oregon Health and Science University led
research in which scientists
edited the DNA of viable human
embryos.
(2) Currently, there is no reason to prohibit in vitro germline genome
editing on human
embryos and gametes, with appropriate oversight and consent from donors, to facilitate
research on the possible future clinical applications of gene
editing.