Why the Gene Editors of Tomorrow Need to Study Ethics Today
6 years, 6 months ago

Why the Gene Editors of Tomorrow Need to Study Ethics Today

Wired  

Two years after biochemist Jennifer Doudna helped introduce the world to the gene-editing tool known as Crispr, a 14-year-old from New Jersey turned it loose on a petri dish full of lung cancer cells, disrupting their ability to multiply. “In high school, I was all on the Crispr bandwagon,” says Jiwoo Lee, who won top awards at the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for her work. “I was conducting a chemical experiment and didn’t realize the pressure had built up until there was a huge explosion!” Doudna and Lee recently met at the Innovative Genomics Institute in Berkeley to discuss Crispr’s ethical implications. “I feel like I was completely clueless.” For Lee’s generation, it is critically important to start these conversations “at as early a stage as possible,” Doudna adds. Jiwoo Lee How I was asked to prom: “‘Prom?’ spelled out with growth medium in a grid of mini test tubes.” That’s why Lee wants to understand the mechanics of Crispr better before plowing into any more real-world applications.

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History of this topic

The controversial scientist He Jiankui hasn’t given up on gene-edited babies
1 month ago

The controversial scientist He Jiankui hasn’t given up on gene-edited babies

The Economist  

T he world was shocked in 2018 when He Jiankui, a Chinese biophysicist, announced that he had helped to produce two girls whose genetic code he had edited when they had been embryos. Scientists around the world condemned the work as wildly premature and possibly dangerous—the Chinese authorities agreed and Dr He was imprisoned for three years. And he still …

How CRISPR can edit entire microbial populations in our gut
5 months, 3 weeks ago

How CRISPR can edit entire microbial populations in our gut

NPR  

How CRISPR can edit entire microbial populations in our gut Part 4 of the TED Radio Hour episode Augmenting Humans. Jennifer Doudna's gene-editing technology CRISPR can now manipulate populations of microbes. Together with her collaborator Emmanuelle Charpentier, Doudna has developed a technology called CRISPR-Cas9 that enables genome editing in any living cell. Web Resources Related TED Bio: Jennifer DoudnaRelated TED …

Ethical guideline issued for genome editing
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Ethical guideline issued for genome editing

China Daily  

China has issued a set of ethical rules on human genome editing, reiterating a strict ban on altering germ cells and embryos and clarifying standard ethical practices for gene editing research. "At present, any clinical research involving germline genome editing is irresponsible and not permitted," it said. Regarding clinical research involving genome editing of somatic cells — which are cells …

Guideline sets ethical rules for human genome editing research
8 months, 2 weeks ago

Guideline sets ethical rules for human genome editing research

China Daily  

China on Wednesday released a guideline that lays out a set of ethical rules for human genome editing research. Regarding clinical research involving genome editing of somatic cells — which are cells in the body other than sperm and egg cells, it said that such research should be aimed at preventing or treating diseases and should be carried out after …

With CRISPR poised to revolutionise therapy, a pause to consider ethical issues
1 year, 1 month ago

With CRISPR poised to revolutionise therapy, a pause to consider ethical issues

The Hindu  

“We will each write a ghost story”, said Lord Byron; and his proposition was acceded to. With the first gene editing technology securing approval for the treatment of sickle cell anemia and beta-thalassemia, we transcend into a new revolutionary phase. Casgevy and Lyfgenia, the two cell-based gene therapies approved by the Food and Drug Administration for sickle cell anemia treatment …

Jennifer Doudna Believes Crispr Is for Everyone
55 years, 2 months ago

Jennifer Doudna Believes Crispr Is for Everyone

Wired  

It’s been a monumental year for Crispr, the molecular tool scientists use to edit genetic material. This November, the United Kingdom authorized the first medical treatment using Crispr gene editing, giving people with sickle cell disease new opportunities to receive a one-time therapy to prevent episodes of terrible pain. “It’s expensive,” Jennifer Doudna, the pioneering biochemist who won a Nobel …

For man behind gene-edited babies, a rocky return to science
2 years ago

For man behind gene-edited babies, a rocky return to science

Associated Press  

Five years ago, scientist He Jiankui shocked his peers and the world with claims that he created the first genetically edited babies. Given He’s ambition,“I wouldn’t be surprised that a few years down the line if the opportunity arises, that he would go back” to that sort of work, said Dr. Samira Kiani, a genetic engineer and researcher at the …

CRISPR Scientist's Biography Explores Ethics Of Rewriting The Code Of Life
4 years ago

CRISPR Scientist's Biography Explores Ethics Of Rewriting The Code Of Life

NPR  

CRISPR Scientist's Biography Explores Ethics Of Rewriting The Code Of Life Enlarge this image toggle caption Nick Otto/The Washington Post via Getty Images Nick Otto/The Washington Post via Getty Images The Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are the first vaccines to be activated by mRNA — and would not have been possible without the invention of the gene editing technology …

Lab tests show risks of using CRISPR gene editing on embryos
4 years, 4 months ago

Lab tests show risks of using CRISPR gene editing on embryos

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A lab experiment aimed at …

Crispr: What is genome editing? All you need to know about Nobel-winning controversial technology
4 years, 5 months ago

Crispr: What is genome editing? All you need to know about Nobel-winning controversial technology

India Today  

Two women -- Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna -- were awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize for chemistry by the Nobel Committee on Wednesday. The duo received the Nobel Prize in chemistry award for developing a method of genome editing, or gene editing, likened to "molecular scissors" that offers the promise of one day curing inherited diseases and even cancer. A …

Too Soon to Give Green Signal to Techniques of Genome Editing for Human Embryo, Say Scientists
4 years, 6 months ago

Too Soon to Give Green Signal to Techniques of Genome Editing for Human Embryo, Say Scientists

News 18  

Techniques to genetically-edit human embryos should not be used until they are proved to be reliable and safe, an international commission said Thursday, in the wake of a scandal over gene-modified babies in China two years ago. Experts from the commission of the US National Academy of Medicine, US National Academy of Sciences, and Britain’s Royal Society said heritable genome …

Still too soon to try altering human embryo DNA, panel says
4 years, 6 months ago

Still too soon to try altering human embryo DNA, panel says

Associated Press  

It’s still too soon to try to make genetically edited babies because the science isn’t advanced enough to ensure safety, says an international panel of experts who also mapped a pathway for any countries that want to consider it. If drugs or gene therapy after birth can treat a disease, “then it doesn’t make sense to me to layer the …

It’s still too soon to try altering the DNA of human embryos, scientific panel says
4 years, 6 months ago

It’s still too soon to try altering the DNA of human embryos, scientific panel says

LA Times  

It’s still too soon to try to genetically edited human embryos because the science isn’t advanced enough to ensure safety, according to a report by an international panel of experts who also mapped a pathway for any countries that want to consider it. Thursday’s report comes nearly two years after a Chinese scientist shocked the world by revealing he’d helped …

Scientists claim to have uses CRISPR for the first time to treat a patient who was blind
5 years ago

Scientists claim to have uses CRISPR for the first time to treat a patient who was blind

Firstpost  

They said that it will take up to a month to see if this surgery worked and has restored the patient’s vision. Scientists say they have used the gene-editing tool CRISPR inside someone’s body for the first time, a new frontier for efforts to operate on DNA, the chemical code of life, to treat diseases. “We think it could open …

The World Health Organization Says No More Gene-Edited Babies
55 years, 2 months ago

The World Health Organization Says No More Gene-Edited Babies

Wired  

The world’s largest public health authority has weighed in with the most authoritative statement yet on the use of Crispr to alter the DNA of human babies. Eight months after a rogue Chinese scientist revealed he had secretly created the world’s first gene-edited children, the World Health Organization is asking countries to put a stop to any experiments that would …

CRISPR will bring huge shifts to agriculture, food sectors in next 5 years says founder
5 years, 11 months ago

CRISPR will bring huge shifts to agriculture, food sectors in next 5 years says founder

Firstpost  

Gene editing technology CRISPR has found itself in the news a whole lot since it was first invented and used in living systems in 2012 and 2013, respectively. “In the next five years, the most profound thing we’ll see in terms of CRISPR’s effects on everyday lives will be in the agricultural sector,” she told Business Insider. Memphis Meats, a …

Another scientist is editing genes in human embryos, but ethically this time
6 years, 1 month ago

Another scientist is editing genes in human embryos, but ethically this time

Firstpost  

So far, the Columbia University scientist has allowed modified embryos to live no longer than one day. While the Columbia University scientist, Dr Dieter Egli, isn’t creating any genetically-modified babies or implanting these gene-edited embryos into mothers, he admits that the ultimate goal of his future research is probably just that. Egli is a developmental biologist currently working on genetically-modified …

Crispr Babies, IVF, and the Ethics of Genetic Class Warfare
6 years, 3 months ago

Crispr Babies, IVF, and the Ethics of Genetic Class Warfare

Wired  

Last month, Chinese national He Jiankui flouted a vigorous scientific debate when he told a room full of scientists that he had manipulated the embryos of Chinese twins, using Crispr, and made one resistant to their father’s HIV. In The Washington Post, Eileen Hunt Botting wrote that He’s experiment had “no moral or scientific justification, given that the medical profession …

Screening the human future: YouTube, persuasion and genetically engineered children
6 years, 3 months ago

Screening the human future: YouTube, persuasion and genetically engineered children

Salon  

On Sunday, Nov. 25, the scientist He Jiankui claimed the birth of the world’s first genetically engineered children: twins, created by IVF, their DNA altered at fertilization. Instead of “CRISPR-Cas9,” the common name, he insists on the phrase “gene surgery.” It’s a naked attempt to make CRISPR sound precise, like a molecular scalpel. CRISPR is improving in accuracy, but as …

Gene editing: WHO panel to address complex issues
6 years, 3 months ago

Gene editing: WHO panel to address complex issues

CNN  

CNN — The World Health Organization is creating a working group to study gene editing and the complex ethical, social and safety issues the procedure raises. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO’s director-general, discussed the challenges gene editing technologies bring and the creation of an expert panel during a press conference Monday, where he warned of the potential for “unintended consequences.” …

Gene editing experts discuss whether controversy is rushing the still-young technology
6 years, 3 months ago

Gene editing experts discuss whether controversy is rushing the still-young technology

Firstpost  

A Chinese scientist’s stunning claim he has pioneered the world’s first genetically modified baby has suddenly made the eternal debate over ethics and emerging scientific capabilities pressing and real. “It’s obvious that everything that is technically feasible is not ethically desirable,” said Cynthia Fleury, a member of the French Ethics Committee. “Trying to rush the technology” The concern of the …

What are the ethics of baby gene-editing?
6 years, 3 months ago

What are the ethics of baby gene-editing?

India Today  

Paris, Dec 1 A Chinese scientist's stunning claim he has pioneered the world's first genetically modified baby has suddenly made the eternal debate over ethics and emerging scientific capabilities pressing and real. "It's obvious that everything that is technically feasible is not ethically desirable," said Cynthia Fleury, a member of the French Ethics Committee. "Trying to rush the technology forwards, …

China baby gene-editing scientist defends his research, raises possibility of third embryo
6 years, 3 months ago

China baby gene-editing scientist defends his research, raises possibility of third embryo

CNN  

Hong Kong CNN — The Chinese scientist who sparked an international outcry after alleging to have helped create the world’s first genetically edited babies has raised the possibility of a third child being born, after announcing that a separate woman was pregnant at an early stage with a modified embryo. He said his research has been submitted to a scientific …

Facing Backlash, Chinese Scientist Defends Gene-Editing Research On Babies
6 years, 3 months ago

Facing Backlash, Chinese Scientist Defends Gene-Editing Research On Babies

NPR  

Facing Backlash, Chinese Scientist Defends Gene-Editing Research On Babies Enlarge this image toggle caption Kin Cheung/AP Kin Cheung/AP Updated at 6:15 a.m. Enlarge this image toggle caption Kin Cheung/AP Kin Cheung/AP She spoke after Harvard Medical School Dean George Daley alluded to He's claims as "missteps" that he worried might set back a highly promising field of research. "Just because …

Scientists, officials in China abhor gene editing that geneticist claims
6 years, 3 months ago

Scientists, officials in China abhor gene editing that geneticist claims

Live Mint  

Beijing/Shanghai: Chinese officials and scientists denounced on Tuesday the claims of a geneticist who said he had created the first gene-edited babies, and a hospital linked to his research suggested its ethical approval had been forged. China’s Genetics Society and the Chinese Society for Stem Cell Research said in a statement He had acted as an “individual” and his work …

World's first CRISPR gene-edited babies claimed by Chinese researcher as success
6 years, 3 months ago

World's first CRISPR gene-edited babies claimed by Chinese researcher as success

Firstpost  

Society will decide what to do next in terms of allowing or forbidding such science: Researcher. It’s “unconscionable … an experiment on human beings that is not morally or ethically defensible,” said Dr Kiran Musunuru, a University of Pennsylvania gene editing expert and editor of a genetics journal. It’s a big deal.” However, one famed geneticist, Harvard University’s George Church, …

Editing our genes
6 years, 6 months ago

Editing our genes

The Hindu  

American biochemist Jennifer Doudna, one of the pioneers of the gene editing tool Crispr-Cas9, woke up in a cold sweat after she dreamt of Adolf Hitler. In the book she co-authored, A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution, Doudna recounts the dream, and acknowledges the “truly incredible power” of the technology, “one that could …

Scared of CRISPR? 40 years on, IVF shows how fears of new medical technology can fade
6 years, 8 months ago

Scared of CRISPR? 40 years on, IVF shows how fears of new medical technology can fade

Salon  

The first “test-tube baby” made headlines around the world in 1978, setting off intense debate on the ethics of researching human embryos and reproductive technologies. So while the intense media coverage at the time helped inform the public of this new development, the insensitive labeling of Louise Brown as a “test-tube baby” and warnings about dystopian results didn’t stop Americans …

Designer babies: Picking traits for non-medical reasons could be 'morally permissible', says UK ethics group
6 years, 8 months ago

Designer babies: Picking traits for non-medical reasons could be 'morally permissible', says UK ethics group

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Letting parents use new gene-editing technology to pick characteristics of their …

If you could edit your child's genes, would you?
7 years, 6 months ago

If you could edit your child's genes, would you?

Salon  

In early August, Nature reported that an international group of scientists used CRISPR–Cas9 gene editing technology to correct a mutation in the DNA in human embryos. Recently on Salon Talks, Dr. Alan Copperman, the director of the division of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Mount Sinai Medical Center, laid out both the science and the ethical considerations. It’s Clustered Regularly …

For first time ever, scientists are able to edit DNA in human embryos through CRISPR technique!
7 years, 7 months ago

For first time ever, scientists are able to edit DNA in human embryos through CRISPR technique!

India TV News  

In a recent breakthrough, US scientists have been able to modify genes of a human embryo to correct a disease-causing mutation. "We have demonstrated the possibility to correct mutations in a human embryo in a safe way and with a certain degree of efficiency," said Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, a professor in Salk's Gene Expression Laboratory and a co-author of …

Science Says: Gene editing widely used in range of research
7 years, 7 months ago

Science Says: Gene editing widely used in range of research

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Gene editing is getting fresh attention thanks to a successful lab experiment with human embryos. _____ WHAT IS GENE EDITING While scientists have long been able to find defective genes, fixing them has been so cumbersome that it’s slowed development of genetic therapies. There are several gene editing methods, but a tool called CRISPR-Cas9 has sparked a boom …

Human embryo editing breakthrough is a ‘major advance’ towards controversial treatments for babies
7 years, 7 months ago

Human embryo editing breakthrough is a ‘major advance’ towards controversial treatments for babies

The Independent  

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “Every generation on would carry this repair because we’ve removed the disease-causing gene variant from that family’s …

Scientists Precisely Edit DNA In Human Embryos To Fix A Disease Gene
7 years, 7 months ago

Scientists Precisely Edit DNA In Human Embryos To Fix A Disease Gene

NPR  

Scientists Precisely Edit DNA In Human Embryos To Fix A Disease Gene Enlarge this image toggle caption Courtesy of OHSU Courtesy of OHSU Scientists have been tinkering with the DNA in humans and other living things for decades. "If irresponsible scientists are not stopped, the world may soon be presented with a fait accompli of the first baby," says David …

Scientists edit human genes for the first time ever in the US
7 years, 7 months ago

Scientists edit human genes for the first time ever in the US

The Independent  

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Scientists have genetically engineered a human embryo for the first time in the …

Crispr Creator Jennifer Doudna on the Promises—and Pitfalls—of Easy Genetic Modification
7 years, 10 months ago

Crispr Creator Jennifer Doudna on the Promises—and Pitfalls—of Easy Genetic Modification

Wired  

For $150, you can buy a Crispr kit online and use it to engineer heartier gut bacteria in your kitchen. Easy genetic modification could mean cures for cancer, kitty-sized pigs, and, yes, designer babies. Perfect children The prospect of editing human embryos to make people super athletic and acne-free is disturbing, Doudna says. Crispr could also allow the creation of …

U.S. Scientists Urge 'Serious Consideration' Of Gene Editing In Human Embryos
8 years, 1 month ago

U.S. Scientists Urge 'Serious Consideration' Of Gene Editing In Human Embryos

Huff Post  

Science Photo Library - ZEPHYR via Getty Images CHICAGO - Powerful gene editing tools may one day be used on human embryos, eggs and sperm to remove genes that cause inherited diseases, according to a report by U.S. scientists and ethicists released on Tuesday. The report from the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine said scientific …

To prevent serious medical conditions, scientists should be able to edit people’s DNA, panel says
8 years, 1 month ago

To prevent serious medical conditions, scientists should be able to edit people’s DNA, panel says

LA Times  

Scientists should be allowed to alter a person’s DNA in ways that will be passed on to future generations, but only to prevent serious and strongly heritable diseases, according to a new report from the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine. As such, the National Academies’ report acknowledges that changing heritable DNA in eggs, sperm and …

Gene editing: Should we be worried? (Opinion)
9 years, 1 month ago

Gene editing: Should we be worried? (Opinion)

CNN  

Editor’s Note: Robert Klitzman is a professor of psychiatry and director of the Masters of Bioethics Program at Columbia University. Story highlights British researchers last week given OK to use gene editing on human embryos Robert Klitzman: Tampering with nature undoubtedly has perils but also has big potential benefits CNN — Every week, I get unsolicited email ads from airlines, …

Britain gives scientist go-ahead to genetically modify human embryos
9 years, 1 month ago

Britain gives scientist go-ahead to genetically modify human embryos

ABC  

Scientists in Britain have been given the go-ahead to edit the genes of human embryos for research, using a technique that some say could eventually be used to create "designer babies". Key points: British scientist given a licence to experiment with human embryo modification Fears modification could encourage "babies made to order" Scientists say modification can eliminate genetic defects Less …

Debating the ethics of human gene editing
9 years, 3 months ago

Debating the ethics of human gene editing

The Hindu  

Rewriting your DNA is getting closer to reality. It’s a question that gained urgency after Chinese researchers made the first attempt at editing genes in human embryos, a laboratory experiment that didn’t work well but did raise the prospect of one day altering human heredity passing modified DNA to future generations. At issue are tools to edit precisely genes inside …

Crispr Is Getting Better. Now It's Time to Ask the Hard Ethical Questions
9 years, 3 months ago

Crispr Is Getting Better. Now It's Time to Ask the Hard Ethical Questions

Wired  

When Chinese scientists announced in April they had edited human embryos using a new genetic tool called Crispr, the headlines blared “designer babies,” and the world woke up to Crispr’s power. Today, on the first day of an international summit on human gene editing in Washington, DC, MIT researchers announced that they have tweaked a Crispr protein to reduce those …

Gene editing: Time has come to engineer DNA to block transmission of inherited disorders, say scientists
9 years, 3 months ago

Gene editing: Time has come to engineer DNA to block transmission of inherited disorders, say scientists

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “Banning human germline editing could put a damper on the best medical research and instead …

This Technology Can Fight Cancer And Create Adorable Mini Pigs. So Why Are Scientists So Worried?
9 years, 4 months ago

This Technology Can Fight Cancer And Create Adorable Mini Pigs. So Why Are Scientists So Worried?

Huff Post  

As any number of magazine articles and news stories from recent months have noted, we are in the midst of a major genetic revolution. This week, Scientific American shone a spotlight on China’s “bold push” into the world of genetically customized animals -- and the mounting ethical quandaries that follow. As Arthur Caplan, a professor of bioethics at New York …

Stem cell experts urge ethical debate over embryo creation
9 years, 5 months ago

Stem cell experts urge ethical debate over embryo creation

ABC  

The very real possibility of creating embryos from stem cells raises ethical issues that need to be debated now, scientists say. Pluripotent stem cells, which are able to become any cell in the body, provide scientists with an unprecedented opportunity to study early human development and could possibly help in the creation of organs for transplant. Last year, scientists showed …

Crispr: Breakthrough announced in technique of 'editing' DNA to fight off deadly illnesses
9 years, 7 months ago

Crispr: Breakthrough announced in technique of 'editing' DNA to fight off deadly illnesses

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Dr Marson and his colleagues used the Crispr gene-editing technique to cut and splice fragments …

Editing the Softwareof Life, for Fameand Fortune
9 years, 9 months ago

Editing the Softwareof Life, for Fameand Fortune

Wired  

Jennifer Doudna#### One lab spawned two startups hoping to dominate the booming world of genome editing. Doudna envisioned a world in which any scientist working with living organisms might use these proteins to make controlled cuts in a genome to modify its function. Along with her collaborators and students, Doudna demonstrated that a protein called cas9 could be engineered to …

America Needs to Figure Out the Ethics of Gene Editing Now
9 years, 11 months ago

America Needs to Figure Out the Ethics of Gene Editing Now

Wired  

In an international first, researchers in China have reported doing experiments that involve editing the genome of a human embryo. In the research, published a week ago in the journal Protein and Cell, the scientists used a powerful new DNA-editing method called CRISPR/Cas9 to replace the genes that cause a potentially deadly blood disorder. Within the past few months, several …

Is 'editing’ human embryos ethical?
10 years ago

Is 'editing’ human embryos ethical?

The Hindu  

In a strongly worded comment published last week in Nature, a group of scientists has raised ethical and safety concerns over genetically editing human embryos. The scientists — representing bioscience institutes in the U.S. — have called for a “voluntary moratorium” in the scientific community to discourage such research, in their comment titled “Don’t edit the human germ line.” This …

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