Editing the Embryo
Just imagine if you could correct a genetic disease right there in the embryo, before the condition even developed. It may sound like science fiction, but this tantalizing idea edged closer to potential reality over the past few months following ground-breaking work on human embryo genome editing.
In August 2017, a collaboration from USA and Korea reported the successful modification of human embryos to remove a genetic mutation causing an inherited heart condition, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).
The team used the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing tool to fix a genetic mutation carried by the sperm, using healthy DNA from the mother’s egg as the template.
The work was reported in the journal Nature and covered by The Guardian newspaper. For the full story on this breakthrough and discussion of the ethical issues surrounding it, enjoy Hannah Devlin’s excellent podcast.
In fact, embryo editing has hardly been out of the news recently. For example, A team in China has successfully used a modified gene-editing tool to correct a point mutation causing β-thalassaemia in human embryos:
Meanwhile, researchers based at the Francis Crick Institute in London are using gene editing in human embryos to investigate genes that are critical in the first hours of life, in order to better understand miscarriage and improve the success rates of fertility treatment:
Legislation around human embryo research currently prevents any modified embryos being allowed to develop into babies and we are a long way from even the suggestion that gene editing would be safe to do in this context. However, if in future the safety concerns are addressed, a bioethical debate of huge proportions looms.
Whilst some might be comfortable with the safe eradication of serious and life-limiting genetic conditions from human embryos, many would be justifiably concerned about the potential of this technology to create ‘designer babies’.