US university edits embryo genes in experiment hailed as groundbreaking
Technology that allows alteration of genes in a human embryo has been used for the first time in the US, according to Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) in Portland, which carried out the research. The OHSU research is believed to have broken new ground both in the number of embryos experimented upon and by demonstrating it is possible to safely and efficiently correct defective genes that cause inherited diseases, according to Technology Review, which first reported the news. None of the embryos was allowed to develop for more than a few days, according to the report. Some countries have signed a convention prohibiting the practice on concern that it could be used to create so-called designer babies. Results of the peer-reviewed study are expected to be published soon in a scientific journal, OHSU spokesman Eric Robinson said. The research, led by Shoukhrat Mitalipov, head of OHSU’s Center for Embryonic Cell and Gene Therapy, involves a technology known as CRISPR that has ...
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