GM Babies
The debate over genetically modified (GM) foods and crops still goes on.
Now the controversy over genetic editing might expand – to babies.
A recent report by the UK-based Nuffield Council on Bioethics, an independent body that studies ethical issues related to genome editing and biomedical technology, stated that it could be “morally permissible” to allow parents to choose the genetic traits of their children through DNA alteration, the Telegraph reported.
The council’s advice calls for numerous safeguards and sees the technology being used primarily as a means of preventing genetic diseases and lowering the chances of illnesses like cancer and dementia. But it didn’t rule out letting parents pick cosmetic traits, too, such as height or eye color.
“We have concluded that the potential use of genome editing to influence the characteristics of future generations is not unacceptable in itself,” stated Professor Karen Yeung, head of the working party that produced the new report and a professor of law and ethics at the University of Birmingham.
Activists, on the other hand, fear this might lead to a caste system between modified and un-modified people.
A recent study revealed that gene-editing methods are not as safe as previously thought, due to dangerous mutations caused by the DNA’s changes.
“The people of Britain decided 15 years ago that they don’t want GM food,” David King, director of the watchdog group Human Genetics Alert, told the newspaper. “Do you suppose they want GM babies?”
In its defense, the council clarified that genome editing would require strict regulation and “should only be licensed on a case-by-case basis.”
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