‘HIGHLY desirable’ and ethical – a Scottish scientist is calling for genetic modification in human embryos to stop the transmission of DNA diseases.
In a new paper, Dr Kevin Smith of Abertay University says lab advances have made the risks of gene editing low enough to justify using the technique to modify babies before their birth.
Genetically-modified (GM) people, he claims could be free of serious later-life conditions like cancer, heart problems and Alzheimer’s, which affect large percentages of the population.
He said: “The human germline is by no means perfect, with evolution having furnished us with rather minimal protection from diseases that tend to strike in our later years, including cardiovascular disease, cancer and dementia.
“GM techniques offer the prospect of protecting future people against these and other common disorders. This has previously been achieved to an extent in GM experiments on animals.
“If several common disorders could be avoided or delayed by genetically modifying humans, the average disease-free lifespan could be substantially extended.”
The call, published in the specialist journal Bioethics, comes one year after US-trained biochemist He Jiankui announced the birth of the first humans to have their cells modified using a gene-editing process.
Chinese twins Lulu and Nana were born after genetic mutations aimed at minimising the chances of contracting HIV were introduced into healthy embryos – a move which sparked uproar.
Smith, who has previously called for all 18-year-old men to freeze their sperm to avoid any risks of fathering children later in life, says pursuing such work could lead to major advances in science.
The sooner scientists begin working on this, Smith claims, the sooner society can benefit.
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However, he notes that this may be a hard sell because society is “largely opposed to genetically modifying humans”.
Drawing comparisons with in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), he states: “The negative publicity generated by the ethically problematic first-ever production of GM babies in China last year was strongly criticised by most geneticists and ethicists, further hardening attitudes against the creation of so-called ‘designer babies’.
“However, by delaying an ethically-sound move towards a world where we can reduce genetic disease, we are failing those who suffer through disease and debilitating conditions.
“If such negative attitudes to biomedical innovation had prevailed in the 1970s, the development and use of IVF ... might never have come to fruition.”
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