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In Breakthrough, Scientists Edit a Dangerous Mutation From Genes in Human Embryos (npr.org)
Scientists for the first time have successfully edited genes in human embryos to repair a common and serious disease-causing mutation, producing apparently healthy embryos, according to a study published on Wednesday. From a report: Now, an international team of scientists reports they have, for the first time, figured out a way to successfully edit the DNA in human embryos -- without introducing the harmful mutations that were a problem in previous attempts elsewhere. "It's a pretty exciting piece of science," says George Daley, dean of the Harvard Medical School, who was not involved in the research. "It's a technical tour-de-force. It's really remarkable." The research is ultimately aimed at helping families plagued by genetic diseases. The new experiment used a powerful new gene-editing technique to correct a genetic defect behind a heart disorder that can cause seemingly healthy young people to suddenly die from heart failure. The experiment corrected the defect in nearly two-thirds of several dozen embryos, without causing potentially dangerous mutations elsewhere in the DNA. None of the embryos were used to try to create a baby. But if future experiments confirm the techniques are safe and effective, the scientists say the same approach could be used to prevent a long list of inheritable diseases.
Designer babies that don't suddenly die of inherited diseases OHMEGRD KILL IT WITH FIRE. /s
That disease may have been beneficial in 0.0075% of situations we shouldn't get rid of it! /s
Is there anything it can't do?
Have gnu, will travel.
So who decides where to draw the line? The parents? Doctors? Politicians?
My gut tells me that it should be the parents who decide.
How far along the spectrum do you have to be before autism is considered "serious" enough to be edited?
I think that should be up to the parents.
Do you edit out all mutations, or just enough to slide to a higher functioning level on the scale?
The article I linked to (and other papers I've read on the subject) are indicating that there's some kind of link between high functioning autism and genius. But if we also recall the words of historical geniuses like Einstein, Edison, and Franklin they all seem to think that hard work is the most important trait; the stubborn pursuit of a thing until they get it. Autism frequently provides this obsession. So I think this all needs more study so that we can determine what exactly is the thing that we want and how do we get it without letting people suffer.
If the parents just don't want to take any chances chasing clouds and finagling "genius" into their kid while risking full blown autism then by all means let them just edit out a potentially devastating problem in their kid.
I'm just trying to say we shouldn't iron everyone into a "normal" because genius is, by definition, abnormal. We all want the good without the bad but in the case of genius it appears to be closely bound up and related to the bad of autism.
Furthermore, the very diversity of traits among a species is what allows that species to continue to survive and evolve. If we put all our traits into a single "normal" basket then we risk complete loss of our species if our situation/environment changes.
How do you control for the environmental factors?
I don't know. I don't think anyone does for sure.
While many people embrace their "genius", plenty of others fall into depression and would gladly trade a few points of IQ just for the ability to socialize and feel comfortable around people.
I know. There's is a lot of tragedy involved in living. But let's not let our loathing of tragedy drive us into compounding our problems. Let's think carefully and work diligently to come up with good solutions.
While Down's Syndrome could be "fixed" (for lack of a better term) relatively easy, autism is much more complicated.
Agreed.