Cornell University scientists genetically modify human embryo
Posted by: in General NewsI think it’s safe to say that this could cause some controversy.
According to a report in Wired, researchers at Cornell University were the first in the world last year to genetically modify a human embryo, adding a green fluorescent protein to the embryo.
The embryo was destroyed five days later. and is believed to be the first documented case of genetic modification of a human embryo:
British newspaper The Times reports that [Cornell researcher Nikica] Zaninovic’s feat was announced at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine annual meeting in 2007, but was only publicized recently when the United Kingdom’s reproductive technology regulators reviewed the research. The House of Commons is about to consider legislation permitting this and other controversial reproductive technologies, such as the creation of chimeras — human-animal hybrid embryos.
The research raises a number of thorny ethical questions. Though adding a fluorescent protein was merely a proof-of-principle step, scientists say that modified embryos could be used to research human diseases. They say embryos wouldn’t be allowed to develop for more than a few weeks, much less implanted in a woman and brought to term.
I’m not sure why creating a glow-in-the-dark person is a major step in curing diseases, but what do I know?
And regardless of your moral position on this issue, this sure sounds like the opening for an episode of the X-Files.
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