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US Scientist Who Edited Human Embryos With CRISPR Responds To Critics (technologyreview.com)
Facing criticism from fellow scientists, the researcher behind the world's largest effort to edit human embryos with CRISPR is vowing to continue his efforts to develop what he calls "IVF gene therapy." MIT Technology Review: Shoukhrat Mitalipov, of Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, drew global headlines last August when he reported successfully repairing a genetic mutation in dozens of human embryos, which were later destroyed as part of the experiment. The laboratory findings on early-stage embryos, he said, had brought the eventual birth of the first genetically modified humans "much closer" to reality. The breakthrough drew wide attention, including from critics who quickly pounced, calling it biologically implausible and potentially the result of careless errors and artifacts. Today, those critics are getting an unusual hearing in the journal Nature, which is publishing two critiques of the Oregon research as well as a lengthy reply from Mitalipov and 31 of his coworkers in South Korea, China, and the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California. The scientific sparring centers on CRISPR's well-known tendency to introduce unseen damage into a cell's DNA.
[...] Mitalipov remains intent on proving that CRISPR can work safely on embryos. In an interview, Mitalipov said he believes it will take five to 10 years before the process is ready to attempt in an IVF center. The revolutionary medical technology being pursued is a way to adjust an embryo's DNA to remove disease risks. It is sometimes called germline gene editing because any DNA fixes a baby is born with would then be passed down to future generations through that person's germ cells, the egg or sperm. For its initial research, the Oregon team recruited women around Portland and paid them $5,000 each to undergo an egg retrieval. With those eggs the team created more than 160 embryos for CRISPR experiments. Mitalipov said his Oregon center continues to obtain eggs in an ongoing effort to confirm his results and extend them in new directions.
[...] Mitalipov remains intent on proving that CRISPR can work safely on embryos. In an interview, Mitalipov said he believes it will take five to 10 years before the process is ready to attempt in an IVF center. The revolutionary medical technology being pursued is a way to adjust an embryo's DNA to remove disease risks. It is sometimes called germline gene editing because any DNA fixes a baby is born with would then be passed down to future generations through that person's germ cells, the egg or sperm. For its initial research, the Oregon team recruited women around Portland and paid them $5,000 each to undergo an egg retrieval. With those eggs the team created more than 160 embryos for CRISPR experiments. Mitalipov said his Oregon center continues to obtain eggs in an ongoing effort to confirm his results and extend them in new directions.
Gentlemen, I give you Khaaaaaaaannnnnnnnn!
God will not be happy.
The gods are still pissed about Prometheus giving us fire.
Every significant advance in human history has been accompanied by moral nattering by naysayers.
That being the case, I think this is crucial research with enormous potential for good (as with any new tech, balanced by potential for harm). One of my children has a severe genetic defect, once that confines him to a wheelchair and will condemn him to a slow, lingering death sometime in his twenties. CRISPR is the leading candidate for treating his condition, but the odds are that it won't be ready for clinical use in time to save his life. His defect can already be detected in vivo and fixing it in in vitro is an important step before treating embryos in vivo that are intended to be brought to term. Saying we're five years away from clinical use of this technology and technique is the same as saying we are five years away from eliminating a whole host of crippling genetic defects.
I do understand and share the concerns about designer babies, eugenics and unknown long term effects of such medically unnecessary tinkering. But given the parsimonious approach the medical profession has to using new techniques, I think we'll see a well established track record of treating birth defects long before the industry embraces those techniques for selecting desirable traits.
I need a wheelchair van for my son. Help me get the word out. https://www.gofundme.com/wheelchair-van-for-jj
oh shit, don't let him see what we've done to dogs.
No, I'm pretty sure nobility was a thing. "High born". We've been here before. Most of them didn't get their heads chopped off.
Yeah, it'll cause some social issues. It'll make that worse. But it will make a whole host of people better. It will cure illnesses. It will let the lame walk and the blind see. It will push the edges of what humans are capable of. It will do more good than harm. And it might not be restricted to only the billionaires' babies. It might be common. Imagine if every baby born in Africa could simply be immune to malaria.
Considering the mess that most people are already just why would anyone not want the species to be altered? When you read our history books what you see is war, invasions, thefts. rapes and all manner of crime and depravity. And now we have a scientists that hopes to make a few adjustments.
since we can genetically modify DNA someone/corporation/entity/group/government will do it. Like AI, Robotics, etc Genetic modifications will be done. We all need to accept that.
;)
It is also true no one has any idea where this will all go. And what the unforeseen consequences might be.
Just my 2 cents
Wisdom teeth. The Superior laryngeal nerve which loops around the Aorta for no reason. Cells that off themselves sounds pretty terrible, but when they refuse to die cancer kinda sucks. All the security holes that allow virus's to make us sick. Removing the code virus's have inserted into our DNA might be a good idea, but of course by this point we might be making use of it. (Yeah, btw, we've already been genetically altered). That thing were every cell division snaps off telomeres and leads to all the effects of ageing kinda sucks. I for one would like to be young forever. Hair loss, vision loss, joints wearing out. Pretty much everything that happens after 50. Hangnails, scar tissue, acme. I dunno about you but puberty could have gone smoother. I know it made sense back in the day, but parts of me really don't need to be THAT hairy. Really kind of a pain. While we're at it, I'm no longer hunting and gathering and don't really need this ring of fat around my belly. There's not days between meals.
Could we have some sort of bugzilla list with a bounty system? I'd really prefer the super-babies of the future to be open source rather than proprietary. Someone us don't want kids with mandatory apple logo birthmarks.
Just the Tower of Babel, the Tree in the garden, and every other time man tried to play God.
We played God when we took out the first diseased appendix. Now we are going on to far greater things.
[5th generation, in the wild] That's where it starts to get to the 'no body knows' kind of territory.
Noooooo, we STILL have some idea of what could happen. You know, dogs. Broccoli. Starlink corn. We've got way more experience with things like this than you're letting on. I think you just need to browse wikipedia a bit. Or read a book on the subject. It's interesting stuff.
We don't even really understand how much of human 'junk DNA' is actually junk
Turns out there's more to DNA than protein-coding genes. All the... if-else statements around the driver API calls are also important. But yeah, I agree, epigenetics are weird and not well understood. And my GOD do the "scientific journalists" not help in that regard.
Not that all the effect will be bad, but they sure won't all be good.
Agreed.
God will not be happy.
Slashdot readers will not be happy either.
The embryos were edited with CRISPR.
About half of Slashdot readers will argue that the embryo should have been edited with vi.
The other half will argue that it should have been edited with emacs.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
We have never played God; we play human because we are human.
If we weren't supposed to use our abilities to do these things, then we wouldn't have them. It's like complaining that birds are playing God by flying.
Literally no one has any idea what the long term effect of this kind of thing is going to be.
And how is that any different from normal breeding? Two healthy adults can produce a less than healthy child.
Children are born all the time with genetic defects. Some defects with minor impacts might go undetected for many generations. So what's the difference between a "natural" defect and one that occurs due to intentional genetic engineering? Besides, if we find a problem six generations down the line can't we just correct it then?
If they make the babiies to be the perfect taxi driver, will they be called an Ubermensch?
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.