Nobel Prize winners raise alarm over genetic engineering of humans. A group of senior American scientists and ethics experts is calling for debate on the gene-engineering of humans, warning that technology able to change the DNA of future generations is now imminent. In policy recommendations published today in the journal Science, eighteen researchers, including two Nobel Prize winners, say scientists should accept a self-imposed moratorium on any attempt to create genetically altered children until the safety and medical reasons for such a step can be better understood. The concern is over a rapidly advancing gene-editing technology, called CRISPR-Cas9, which is giving scientists the ability to easily alter the genome of living cells and animals (see Genome Surgery). The same technology could let scientists correct DNA letters in a human embryo or egg cell, for instance to create children free of certain disease-causing genes, or perhaps with improved genetics. What we are trying to do is to alert people to the fact that this is now easy, says David Baltimore, a Nobel Prize winner and former president of Caltech, and an author of the letter. We cant use the cover we did previously, which is that it was so difficult that … Continue reading →

BERKELEY A group of 18 scientists and ethicists today warned that a revolutionary new tool to cut and splice DNA should be used cautiously when attempting to fix human genetic disease, and strongly discouraged any attempts at making changes to the human genome that could be passed on to offspring. Among the authors of this warning is Jennifer Doudna, the co-inventor of the technology, called CRISPR-Cas9, which is driving a new interest in gene therapy, or genome engineering. She and colleagues co-authored a perspective piece that appears in the March 20 issue of Science, based on discussions at a meeting that took place in Napa on Jan. 24. The same issue ofSciencefeatures a collection of recent research papers, commentary and news articles on CRISPR and its implications. Given the speed with which the genome engineering field is evolving, our group concluded that there is an urgent need for open discussion of the merits and risks of human genome modification by a broad cohort of scientists, clinicians, social scientists, the general public and relevant public entities and interest groups, the authors wrote. Doudna, director of UC Berkeleys Innovative Genomics Initiative, was joined by five current and two former UC Berkeley scientists, … Continue reading →

While it holds promise for eradicating genetic diseases, the technology also has big implications for the human genome: A person whose DNA is edited would pass the altered genes on to his or her future children. There's also a fear the technology could be used in unethical ways, such as "engineering" a baby to look a certain way, or to be athletic or intelligent. "One of the concerns is that some people may want to use the technology to make trivial or cosmetic changes, rather than using it to prevent devastating diseases," said Carroll, distinguished professor of biochemistry at the University of Utah School of Medicine. The paper Carroll co-signed is expected to amplify discussion in the scientific community, which last week heard from another group of researchers who recommend that the new technology never be used on human embryos. Changing the genome could have unpredictable effects on future humans, and that's unacceptable, the group says. Instead, that group, led by Edward Lanphier, chief executive of the biotechnology company Sangamo Biosciences, suggests research focus on somatic, or non-reproductive cells. CRISPR-Cas9, was developed in the lab of Jennifer Doudna, the University of California-Berkeley scientist who organized the Napa meeting. Hundreds of … Continue reading →