Controversial experiments OK'd
LONDON — In a landmark decision that some ethicists warned is a step down the path toward “designer babies,” Britain gave scientists approval Monday to conduct experiments in which they will try to edit the genes in human embryos.
The scientists won’t be creating babies — the modified embryos will be destroyed after seven days. Instead, they said, the goal is to better understand human development and thereby improve fertility treatments and prevent miscarriages.
The decision by Britain’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority marks the first time a country’s national regulator has approved the technique. Permission isn’t explicitly required in many other countries, including the U.S. and China. The U.S. does not allow the use of federal funds for embryo modification, but there is no outright ban on gene editing.
Gene editing involves deleting, repairing or replacing DNA inside living cells in a sort of biological cut-and-paste technique scientists say could one day lead to treatments for conditions like HIV or inherited disorders such as muscular dystrophy and sickle cell disease.
A team led by Kathy Niakan, an embryo and stem cell specialist at London’s new Francis Crick Institute, received the OK to use gene editing to analyze the first week of an embryo’s growth.
This research will “enhance our understanding of IVF (in vitro fertilization) success rates by looking at the very earliest stage of human development,” said Paul Nurse, director of the institute.
None of the embryos will be transferred into women. They will be allowed to develop from a single cell to around 250 cells, after which they will be destroyed.
Peter Braude, a retired professor of obstetrics and gynecology at King’s College London, said the mechanisms being investigated by Niakan and her colleagues “are crucial in ensuring healthy, normal development and implantation” and could help doctors refine fertility treatments. Braude is not connected to Niakan’s research.
There are a few methods of gene editing, but the technique Niakan’s team plans to use is known as CRISPR-Cas9, a relatively fast, cheap and simple approach that many researchers are keen to try.
