Gene-Editing In Embryos:
A new study published in the journal Nature Communications has warned of the potential consequences of gene editing technology, which is still not fully understood.
Key findings:
- Using Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) to delete harmful disease-causing mutations could create more problems
- CRISPR could lead to extensive gene copying from one parent to another, potentially increasing the risk of diseases
- The extent of the DNA damage induced by CRISPR and how cells respond to it is still not fully known
- The technology used to test gene-edited embryos could reduce the accuracy of genetic testing, leading to the misdiagnosis of embryos.
- The researchers concluded that such limitations must be addressed before gene editing technology can be used.
- Previously, a Chinese scientist who announced the birth of gene-edited twins in 2018, had used CRISPR to make the embryos resistant to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
Gene-editing:
- Genome editing (also called gene editing) is a group of technologies that allow genetic material to be added, removed, or altered at particular locations in the genome.
