Expert group says embryo
genetic modification should be allowed
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[September 10, 2015]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Research
involving genetic modification of human embryos, though controversial,
is essential to gain basic understanding of the biology of early embryos
and should be permitted, an international group of experts said on
Wednesday.
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The statement was issued by members of the so-called Hinxton Group,
a global network of stem cell researchers, bioethicists and policy
experts who met in Britain last week.
The group said it did not currently favor allowing genetically
modified human babies to be born.
"However, we acknowledge that when all safety, efficacy and
governance needs are met, there may be morally acceptable uses of
this technology in human reproduction, though further substantial
discussion and debate will be required," the group said in a
statement.
The expert group cited the "tremendous value to basic research" and
said the science of gene-editing "will continue to progress rapidly,
and there is and will be pressure to make decisions scientifically
and for funding, publishing and governance purposes."
The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), which funds biomedical
research, refuses to provide money for any use of such gene-editing
technologies in human embryos.
"The concept of altering the human germline in embryos for clinical
purposes has been debated over many years from many different
perspectives, and has been viewed almost universally as a line that
should not be crossed," NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins said in
April.
Collins at the time noted that researchers in China had described
experiments in a non-viable human embryo to modify the gene
responsible for a potentially fatal blood disorder using a
gene-editing technology.
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Debra Mathews of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics in
Maryland and a member of the Hinxton Group steering committee said
despite deep moral disagreement on the subject "what is needed is
not to stop all discussion, debate and research." Mathews called for
weighing the potential benefits and harms of human genome editing
for research and human health.
Robin Lovell-Badge, a member of the Hinxton Group steering committee
and head of the Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology and Developmental
Genetics at the Francis Crick Institute in Britain, said,
"Genome-editing techniques could be used to ask how cell types are
specified in the early embryo and the nature and importance of the
genes involved."
"Understanding gained could lead to improvements in IVF (in vitro
fertilization) and reduced implantation failure, using treatments
that do not involve genome editing," Lovell-Badge added.
(Reporting by Will Dunham; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
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