Designer baby revolution less than two years away, research suggests

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"111265417"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><p>The &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;ethically sound” creation of so-called designer babies could begin within two years and spark a revolution in genetic modification&comma; according to new research&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Kevin Smith&comma; from Abertay University in Dundee&comma; has published analysis that found the risks of gene editing are now low enough to warrant its use with human embryos&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He argued  a morally justifiable attempt could be less than two years away and predicted such research could kick-start a revolution in producing genetically-modified &lpar;GM&rpar; people&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Dr Smith said&colon; <em>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The human germline is by no means perfect&comma; with evolution having furnished us with rather minimal protection from diseases that tend to strike in our later years&comma; including cardiovascular disease&comma; cancer and dementia&period;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;GM techniques offer the prospect of protecting future people against these and other common disorders&period;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;This has previously been achieved to an extent in GM experiments on animals&period;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;If several common disorders could be avoided or delayed by genetically modifying humans&comma; the average disease-free lifespan could be substantially extended&period;”<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The academic&comma; who is programme leader for Abertay’s biomedical science courses&comma; said research in this area would offer hope to parents at risk of transmitting serious genetic disease to their future children&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>He warned an ethical approach must be at the heart of any advances if public trust is to be won&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Dr Smith added&colon; <em>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Society is largely opposed to genetically modifying humans and 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&comma; further hardening attitudes against the creation of so-called &OpenCurlyQuote;designer babies’&period;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;However&comma; by delaying an ethically sound move towards a world where we can reduce genetic disease&comma; we are failing those who suffer through disease and debilitating conditions&period;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;If such negative attitudes to biomedical innovation had prevailed in the 1970s&comma; the development and use of IVF – a massively beneficial medical technology – would have been severely delayed&comma; and indeed might never have come to fruition&period;”<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The paper is published in the medical ethics journal Bioethics&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div style&equals;"padding-bottom&colon;15px&semi;" class&equals;"wordads-tag" data-slot-type&equals;"belowpost">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div id&equals;"atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68ed11f417eda">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<script type&equals;"text&sol;javascript">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;window&period;getAdSnippetCallback &equals; function &lpar;&rpar; &lbrace;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;if &lpar; false &equals;&equals;&equals; &lpar; window&period;isWatlV1 &quest;&quest; false &rpar; &rpar; &lbrace;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&sol;&sol; Use Aditude scripts&period;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;window&period;tudeMappings &equals; window&period;tudeMappings &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&semi;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;window&period;tudeMappings&period;push&lpar; &lbrace;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;divId&colon; 'atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68ed11f417eda'&comma;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;format&colon; 'belowpost'&comma;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&rcub; &rpar;&semi;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&rcub;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&rcub;&NewLine;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;if &lpar; document&period;readyState &equals;&equals;&equals; 'loading' &rpar; &lbrace;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;document&period;addEventListener&lpar; 'DOMContentLoaded'&comma; window&period;getAdSnippetCallback &rpar;&semi;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&rcub; else &lbrace;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;window&period;getAdSnippetCallback&lpar;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&rcub;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;script>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>


Discover more from London Glossy Post

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

- Advertisement -
Exit mobile version