“Polygenic Adaptation”
One of the world’s leading geneticists says it will only be a matter of time before the genes of human embryos are ‘edited’ to enhance their health and intelligence – and it is something we should embrace rather than fear.
The World Health Organization (WHO) will convene a meeting this month to develop global standards of governance for human genome editing. This is a welcome move. Although the committee has no powers to enforce compliance – it is still a matter for individual nations to decide on regulations, with China reportedly updating its rules earlier this week – the WHO committee’s recommendations will be influential and far-reaching in their ambition. But I hope committee members will bear a few points in mind in their discussions.
#Science #Biology #Medicine #HumanCloning #Future
It had looked impossible, but, in the end it was surprisingly easy. So, though few knew of their creation at the time, the first human clones were born in 2020 in Taiwan. Now, as those clones celebrate their 30th C-days, it seems a good moment to review the history of cloning…
China’s health ministry has issued draft regulations that will restrict the use of gene editing in humans, just three months after Chinese researcher He Jiankui announced that twin girls had been born with edited genomes. The proposal includes severe penalties for those who break the rules. If approved, scientists say the policy could have gains and drawbacks for research.
