UK scientists get green light to genetically modify human embryos
The technique could help explain and ultimately eradicate many diseases in humans - but it is not without controversy :-
Scientists in the UK will be allowed to genetically modify human embryos for the first time in history, after they received a licence to go ahead with groundbreaking research into the early stages of human life.
Dr Kathy Niakan says her research will help explain the genes needed for a human embryo to develop successfully into a healthy baby
Permission has been granted to alter the DNA of embryos in the first seven days after fertilisation, and could provide clues in the short term as to what causes miscarriage in women.
It remains illegal for the scientists to implant the altered embryos into women, but the decision represents a huge landmark in the use of revolutionary gene-editing technology known as Crispr-Cas9.
The research will see scientists cutting into the genetic code of embryos, isolating individual segments of DNA and assessing how they contribute to the early growth and behaviour of the embryos.
An embryo only has around 250 cells at the seven-day point of development, and a high proportion are simply absorbed into the placenta. Understanding which genes dictate this could dramatically improve IVF success rates in future.
full article in the link below
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Posted by: Ravi Narasimhan <ravi.narasimhan.in@gmail.com>
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