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Chinese Scientists Claim To Have Genetically Modified Human Embryos
Annanag writes: There were rumours — but now it's been confirmed. Chinese scientists have attempted the ethically questionable feat of genetically modifying human embryos. The scientists try to head off ethical concerns by using 'non-viable' embryos, which cannot result in a live birth, obtained from local fertility clinics. The study is a landmark — but also a cautionary tale.
5. Be brain damaged from birth and programmed to clean my house, you filthy Epsilon.
Don't forget that the writers of Greek myths and Jewish folktales were the very fabulists who invented God.
Why is this a cautionary tale? What horrific outcome did they have that we are supposed to learn from?
Well, if you read the article (I know, I know... reading them is overrated), you would have read that they were trying to modify a gene that can mutate to cause a disease. Of the 71 of 86 embryos that survived their tinkering, 54 were tested to reveal that only 28 were successfully spliced and only a fraction of those contained the replacement genetic material. As a bonus failure, they induced a number of mutations elsewhere in the genes.
They concluded that it was a colossal failure that would result in a seriously messed up offspring and that technology is not ready for that application yet. (No consideration of if just THEIR technique was poor.) With the appropriate spin (do not try this at home), they were able to get their results published in a high citation journal.
I, for one, welcome our new genetically modified Chinese overlords.
Just to clarify, there is no "gene for ... Downs Syndrome". Down syndrome is caused by a partial or complete extra (i.e., third) copy of chromosome 21. Thus, it is caused by a failure of meiosis during gamete development, not by a particular allele of any one gene or group of genes.