Chinese scientists modify human embryo:
The article notes:
“In a world first,
Chinese scientists have reported editing the genomes of human embryos. The
results are published in the online journal Protein & Cell and confirm
widespread rumours that such experiments had been conducted — rumours that
sparked a high-profile debate last month about the ethical implications of such
work.
In the paper,
researchers led by Junjiu Huang, a gene-function researcher at Sun Yat-sen
University in Guangzhou, tried to head off such concerns by using 'non-viable'
embryos, which cannot result in a live birth, that were obtained from local
fertility clinics. The team attempted to modify the gene responsible for
β-thalassaemia, a potentially fatal blood disorder, using a gene-editing
technique known as CRISPR/Cas9. The researchers say that their results reveal
serious obstacles to using the method in medical applications.”
Related:
The US Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that (naturally occurring)
human genes couldn’t be patented:
Sci-Fi and Reality