Genome engineering - are we ready for it?
The world was in shock when the chinese researcher He Jiankui revealed his research project: Genetically modified embryos using CRISPR/Cas9 genome engineering technique. Months later, the US announced their first cancer therapy human trial using the very same gene editing technique. What are the ethical concerns of these CRISPR/Cas9 human trials? What does the future of genome editing entail? Could we be looking at designer babies in the near future? Hear us out in this week’s podcast.
//Emma, Sara & Veronika
MIT Technology Review. (2019). China’s CRISPR twins: A timeline of news. Retrieved 2019-05-20 from: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/613007/chinas-crispr-twins-a-timeline-of-news/
Vox. (2019). CRISPR babies: the Chinese government may have known more than it let on. Retrieved 2019-05-20 from: https://www.vox.com/2019/3/4/18245864/chinese-scientist-crispr
Nature. (2016). Gene-editing research in human embryos gains momentum. Retrieved 2019-05-20 from: https://www.nature.com/news/gene-editing-research-in-human-embryos-gains-momentum-1.19767
Karolinska Institutet. (2018). New genetic technology raises ethical questions. Retrieved 2019-05-20 from: https://ki.se/en/research/new-genetic-technology-raises-ethical-questions