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Chinese Researchers Correct Genetic Mutation In Embryos Using Base Editing (bbc.com)
dryriver writes: Chinese researchers have taken tissue from a beta-thallasemia patient, created cloned embryos from that patient's cells, and used a genetic editing technique known as Base Editing to correct the gene mutation that causes beta-thallasemia. The embryos were not implanted in a womb, so no actual babies were created during the procedure. The BBC reports: "Precise 'chemical surgery' has been performed on human embryos to remove disease in a world first, Chinese researchers have told the BBC. The team at Sun Yat-sen University used a technique called base editing to correct a single error out of the three billion 'letters' of our genetic code. They altered lab-made embryos to remove the disease beta-thalassemia. The embryos were not implanted. The team says the approach may one day treat a range of inherited diseases. Base editing alters the fundamental building blocks of DNA: the four bases adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine. Base editing works on the DNA bases themselves to convert one into another. Prof David Liu, who pioneered base editing at Harvard University, describes the approach as 'chemical surgery.' He says the technique is more efficient and has fewer unwanted side-effects than Crispr. He told the BBC: 'About two-thirds of known human genetic variants associated with disease are point mutations. So base editing has the potential to directly correct, or reproduce for research purposes, many pathogenic [mutations].'"
I hope this turns out to be successful as it seems like preventing several types of diseases or conditions from manifesting would be preferable to treatment after the fact, both in terms of patient outcomes as well as cost once the technology becomes more developed.
I also wonder if we'll eventually see this turn into a Gattaca type scenario where we're not just using this for deleterious genetic conditions, but also for intelligence, personality, or other traits. There have been some people that worry about a future where automation and improvements in AI leaves a large part of the population incapable of useful economic contributions, but I wonder if this won't result in a future where no one would be born incapable simply because they can be generically altered to have better outcomes.
The obvious fix for a patient with a genetic disease who wants to have a child, is an egg or sperm donor.
Unfortunately, there is no obvious fix for commenters who donâ(TM)t understand the human heart.
My daughter is from China and has beta thalassemia minor. Should the man she loves also have it their children would have a 50% of inheriting a more dangerous form.
We were overjoyed to adopt. But I know that for many people the desire to have their own offspring, the product of their bond, is intense. I donâ(TM)t see that as a weakness, and I would never tell them that the âobviousâ(TM) solution is to adopt or bear a baby that is half ânot them.â(TM)
So if this allows my daughter to have a child with the man she loves but without the disease... I suppose I would call that a superior baby.