Slashdot Mirror
Scientists: It's Time To Resolve the Ethics of Editing Human Genome
An anonymous reader writes: We've previously discussed a system called CRISPR-cas9, which is dramatically reducing the cost and effort required to do gene editing. In fact, the barrier to entry is now so low that a group of biologists is calling for a moratorium on using the method to modify the human genome. Writing in the journal Science (abstract), the scientists warn that we've reached the point where the ethical questions surrounding DNA alteration can be put off no longer. David Baltimore, one of the group's members, said, "You could exert control over human heredity with this technique, and that is why we are raising the issue. ... I personally think we are just not smart enough — and won't be for a very long time — to feel comfortable about the consequences of changing heredity, even in a single individual." Another group of scientists called for a similar halt to human germline modification, and the International Society for Stem Cell Research says it agrees.
I can see fathers objecting to their daughter's suitors on the grounds that they are GMOs. They'll start to demand labeling.
-Dave
post!!!!111111111111
Thanks to genetically engineered faster than human reaction times.
But we don't want the DISEASES to benefit. We want to get rid of those!