Chapter 1: The Rising Evidence Against Embryo Gene Editing

Recent research is raising alarms about the potential harmful consequences of gene-editing human embryos, particularly with the CRISPR technology. In June, Kathy Niakan, PhD, a developmental biologist based in London, shared preliminary findings that indicated CRISPR could lead to significant, unintended genetic alterations when applied to human embryos.

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Section 1.1: Findings from Niakan's Lab

Although Niakan's research is still pending peer review, its implications were substantial enough to catch the eye of the scientific community. Fyodor Urnov, PhD, an expert in the field, expressed serious concerns, stating, “This is a restraining order for all genome editors to stay the living daylights away from embryo editing.” Essentially, the study suggests that CRISPR is not yet a reliable method for creating gene-edited children.

Following Niakan's publication, two teams from the U.S. shared similar results on the bioRxiv preprint server. Notably, on October 29, Dieter Egli's research group at Columbia University published their findings in the journal Cell.

Subsection 1.1.1: Research on Hereditary Blindness

In this study, researchers utilized CRISPR on early-stage human embryos to correct a mutation in the EYS gene, known to cause hereditary blindness. However, they discovered an alarming side effect: CRISPR frequently removed an entire chromosome or significant portions of it. Such inadvertent alterations could pose health risks for any resulting child.

Chapter 2: The Case of He Jiankui

Two years prior, Chinese scientist He Jiankui sparked global outrage by announcing he had edited embryos using CRISPR, resulting in the birth of twin girls, Lulu and Nana. His actions faced widespread condemnation from the scientific community, culminating in a prison sentence for his unethical experiment.

Kiran Musunuru, MD, PhD, a CRISPR researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, noted in 2019 that due to imperfections in He's editing, the twins are likely experiencing “mosaicism,” where their genomes were not uniformly modified. The current health status of these children remains uncertain.

The controversy surrounding embryo editing stems from the fact that any modifications made at this early developmental stage are inherited indefinitely. If the editing goes awry, the implications could extend beyond the individual child, affecting generations to come. Egli expressed hope that his findings would deter other scientists from pursuing embryo editing for the purpose of creating gene-edited offspring.