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  • The Rumors Were True: Scientists Edited The Genomes of Human Embryos For The First Time, Washington Post

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    Researchers in China successfully edited the genomes of human embryos. Rumors surfaced that someone had altered the germ line in a way never accomplished in our own species. The work focused on modifying the gene responsible for bthalassaemia.

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    Researchers in China successfully edited the genomes of human embryos. Rumors surfaced that someone had altered the germ line in a way never accomplished in our own species. The work focused on modifying the gene responsible for bthalassaemia.

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    1K visualizações2 páginas

    The Rumors Were True: Scientists Edited The Genomes of Human Embryos For The First Time, Washington Post

    Enviado por

    api-110789702
    Researchers in China successfully edited the genomes of human embryos. Rumors surfaced that someone had altered the germ line in a way never accomplished in our own species. The work focused on modifying the gene responsible for bthalassaemia.

    Direitos autorais:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Baixe no formato PDF, TXT ou leia online no Scribd
    Sinalizar o conteúdo como inadequado
    de 2

    Therumorsweretrue:Scientistseditedthe

    genomesofhumanembryosforthefirsttime,
    WashingtonPost,
    By
    Rachel Feltman April 22

    InMarch,arumorsurfacedinthescientificcommunity
    thatwasintriguing,andperhapsabitchilling:Accordingto
    thoseintheknow,researchersinChinahadsuccessfully
    editedthegenomesofhumanembryos,alteringtheirDNA
    inawayneveraccomplishedinourownspecies.

    MITTechnologyReviewreportedonthe
    murmurings
    thatsomeonehadalteredthegermlinethegeneticinformationthatcometogetherand
    formsomethingnewwheneggsandspermcollide.Evenunconfirmed,thoserumorsledtoalotof
    debateaboutthepotentialdownsidesofalteringthegermline.

    CarlZimmerhasmoreonthe
    controversyathisblogonNationalGeographic
    .
    Butitturnsouttherumorsaretrue.

    OnWednesday,

    NatureNewsreported
    thatthepaperinquestionhadbeen

    quietlypublishedina
    lowprofilejournalcalledProtein&Cell
    .Butno,youcan'texpecttoseeanygeneticallyaltered
    humansrunningaroundinthecomingmonths,forbetterorforworse.

    FromMITTechnologyReview
    :
    Theteamdidnottrytoestablishapregnancyandsayforethicalreasonstheydidtheirtestsonlyin
    embryosthatwereabnormal.Theseauthorsdidaverygoodjobpointingoutthechallenges,says
    DieterEgli
    ,aresearcherattheNewYorkStemCellFoundationinManhattan.Theysaythemselves
    thistypeoftechnologyisnotreadyforanykindofapplication.

    Thework,ledbyJunjiuHuangofSunYatsenUniversityinGuangzhou,focusedonmodifyingthe
    generesponsibleforthalassaemia,ablooddisorderthatcanbefatal.TheyusedCRISPR,a
    cuttingedgegeneeditingtoolthat'salreadymadeseriouswavesinthegenomeeditingofother
    species.Bygoingaftergenesattheearlieststageofhumandevelopmentinasinglecelledembryo
    theoreticallyonecanmakesureallthesubsequentcopiesofthegenearethesuperiorversion.But
    wehavealongwaytogobeforethat'sactuallythecase.

    FromNatureNews

    Theteaminjected86embryosandthenwaited48hours,enoughtimefortheCRISPR/Cas9system
    andthemoleculesthatreplacethemissingDNAtoactandfortheembryostogrowtoabouteight
    cellseach.Ofthe71embryosthatsurvived,54weregeneticallytested.Thisrevealedthatjust28
    weresuccessfullyspliced,andthatonlyafractionofthosecontainedthereplacementgenetic
    material.Ifyouwanttodoitinnormalembryos,youneedtobecloseto100%,Huangsays.Thats
    whywestopped.Westillthinkitstooimmature.

    Indeed,notalloftheembryosthatsuccessfullyreceivedthenewgenehaditthroughoutalloftheir
    cells.Manyweremosaics,withsomegoodcopiesofthegeneandsomebadones.

    CarlZimmer
    pointsout
    thatthiscouldendreallybadly:Ifadoctortestedthepotentialembryosofacouplelooking
    toeditoutadeadlygenemutation,theymighttakeacellsamplethatshowedtheembryoashaving

    thehealthygene.Ifitwasamosaic,theresultingbabymightinfacthaveenoughcopiesofthebad
    genetocauseproblems.Andinsomeoftheembryos,thegeneeditingcausedunintendedmutations
    inothergenes."IbelievethisisthefirstreportofCRISPR/Cas9appliedtohumanpreimplantation
    embryosandassuchthestudyisalandmark,aswellasacautionarytale,"GeorgeDaley,a
    stemcellbiologistatHarvardMedicalSchool,
    toldNature
    ."Theirstudyshouldbeasternwarningto
    anypractitionerwhothinksthetechnologyisreadyfortestingtoeradicatediseasegenes."
    Soit'sanexcitingfirststep,butnothingmore.Sciencehasalongwaytogobeforethisissomething
    wecandoonembryosintendedforimplantation,andsomearealreadytryingtodiscourage
    researchersfromtakingthenextstepstowardthatgoal.Eventhestudyauthorsthemselvesare
    incrediblycautiousabouttheirfindings,firmlyreportingthatthetechniqueisfarfromready.
    Butyoucanbesurethatsuchacaveatwon'tstopalotofhooplaabouttheprosandconsof
    "designerbabies."

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