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Scientists Advocate Ban On 'Designer Babies' With Gene Editing
Designer babies may be the new fad, if we follow the logic of gene editing techniques.
An international meeting on genetic engineering techniques is being held in Washington. The Center for Genetics and Society (CGS) and the activist group Friends of the Earth have put out a call for halting technology that can edit DNA and make "designer babies," according to ABC News.
"Like so many powerful new technologies, gene editing holds potential for both great benefit and great harm," said the groups in an open letter. "The implementation of heritable human genetic modification - often referred to as the creation of 'genetically modified humans' or 'designer babies' - could irrevocably alter the nature of the human species and society," according to HNGN.
In the three-day Washington meeting from today, scientists will look into the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technique permitting fast, flexible genetic manipulation, that has the potential to change the human species, according to the Washington Post.
"The overriding question is when, if ever, we will want to use gene editing to change human inheritance," said David Baltimore, the summit's chair, before bringing up the topic of "human enhancement" methods that might be harnessed for cosmetic purposes. "These are deep and disturbing questions that we hope will be illuminated by this meeting."
However, the new technique can also be helped to tweak DNA and battle genetic diseases such as hemophilia, according to MIT Technology Review.
While the entire process is in its nascent stage, scientists believe that CRISPR will start testing humans in a couple of years.
This call follows another claim by the CEO of China's cloning factory, which is right now the world's biggest. The factory claimed that they can clone humans, as previously reported by HNGN.
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