Um-children will inevitably appear
"The first GM children should appear in families with hereditary diseases"
Georgy Golovanov, Hi-tech+
A group of experts from the USA and Britain has published a report in which it assessed the real state of affairs in the field of genetic modification of embryos and made recommendations for the phased introduction of such therapy into the practice of medical clinics.
Scientists believe that GM babies will inevitably appear, but it takes several more years for the technology of gene editing of embryos to be completely safe. We are not talking about designer babies with specified characteristics yet – there is no sufficiently reliable scientific base for this.
In a 200-page report compiled by the US National Academies of Sciences and The Royal Scientific Society of Great Britain says that "editing of the inherited genome" – or the use of DNA editing tools to make changes to the genes of human embryos – is not yet safe enough for this technology to be practiced in IVF clinics.
However, the situation will change in the future. And if this happens, then first of all it should be directed to help couples who otherwise have no chance of having a healthy child. Such cases are rare, but it is in them that the benefits outweigh the risks, writes MIT Technology Review.
Richard Lifton, chairman of the expert group, told reporters that the report describes the careful and phased implementation of embryo gene editing technology. And he assured that in the near future we can not expect the appearance of children with artificially increased intelligence or increased resistance to diseases – there is not yet a sufficiently reliable scientific base for this.
The purpose of the document is to create conditions for the gradual development of gene editing and prevent a repeat of the situation that occurred at the end of 2018, when Chinese scientist He Jiankui, contrary to the ban in China, edited the DNA of embryos conceived by couples with HIV. The news caused a strong reaction from the public, numerous discussions of scientific ethics, and the experiment ended with a prison term for He.
The current report does not address ethics issues. Its authors discuss practical topics of responsible use of this technology. In particular, they write that if gene editing matures enough and countries allow its use, it should be used first of all in those rare cases when both parents suffer from the same congenital disease.
Such coincidences are extremely rare. For example, in the USA, one in 13 African Americans is a carrier of the sickle cell anemia gene. Anyone who inherits two copies of this mutation will certainly be born with this disease, which affects red blood cells and causes painful and life-shortening complications. There are about 80 such couples in the States.
Beta-thalassemia, an inherited blood disease, is more common in Asia. It occurs on average in one in 100,000 people.
The authors of the report believe that it is too early to use genome editing in in vitro fertilization clinics, because the appearance of undesirable mutations that are difficult to notice is not excluded. To do this, clinics should first be equipped with equipment capable of distinguishing sick embryos, even if they consist of a single cell. More precise editing methods are also needed. These problems were described in an unpublished manuscript dedicated to the so-called "GM children" born in China.
Experts came to the conclusion that the technology of gene editing requires several more years before it will be possible to lift the moratorium on the creation of GM children.
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