A technological innovation that can strategically edit out specific stretches of DNA could ultimately lead to the genetic modification of children, and should be halted before it starts being used, scientists at the Center for Genetics and Society and the activist group Friends of the Earth argued in their report.
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The newly engineered enzyme is called as “enhanced” S. pyogenes Cas9, or eSpCas9.
In the United States, researchers are banned from using federal funds for human embryonic stem cell research, but such work may be done with private or state funding. Another study aims to edit genes to cure sickle cell disease, while one hopes to improve our immune system’s ability to target cancerous cells.
While the summit’s concluding statement is extremely cautionary about the editing of human embryos and germline DNA, because these genetic modifications could be passed down from generation to generation, the statement is more enthusiastic about using gene-editing technology to modify somatic cells-things like skin cells that cannot be passed down to future generations.
“As scientific knowledge advances and societal views evolve, the clinical use of germline editing should be revisited on a regular basis”, the panel concluded.
At the meeting, several researchers presented potential near-term uses of the technology that would require the editing of germline cells.
Hundreds of scientists, policymakers and the president’s science adviser have gathered in Washington for a three-day summit on genetic engineering, with a focus on a new, relatively simple technique for manipulating genes. In other words, creating designer babies is a no-no.
“We could be on the cusp of a new era in human history”, Nobel laureate David Baltimore of the California Institute of Technology said Tuesday in opening the worldwide summit to examine what he called “deep and disturbing questions”. For example, the academy said, future generations won’t be able to opt out of inheriting edited DNA, genetic changes might be hard to undo, and there’s also “the possibility that permanent genetic “enhancements” to subsets of the population could exacerbate social inequities or be used coercively”.
The first International Summit on Human Gene Editing will debate how far the science should progress.
Sangamo is planning a clinical trial for next year that takes a next step and injects a gene editing tool directly into the body – in an attempt to target a blood disorder known as hemophilia B. The researchers aimed to right a gene defect that triggers an endemic, but just a few embryos have been absolutely corrected and others had alterations within the incorrect spots. A mistake might have irreversible penalties.
“Engineering the genes we pass on to our children and future generations would be highly risky, medically unnecessary, and socially fraught”, said Marcy Darnovsky of the US Centre for Genetics and Society (CGS).
Then there’s the question of what is permissible to alter: Just deleting a gene that causes a devastating disease in a family?
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According to Professor Zheng, “Many of the safety concerns are related to off-target effects”. “Everything I’ve learned here says we’re not ready to be doing this yet, and that we have to ideal the technologies and get a better consensus”.
