Despite all the warnings and the clamor raised by other scientists all over the world, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has given the green light to a group of British scientists, allowing them to modify human embryos genetically.
Telegraph reported that experimentation on the leftover IVF embryos by the Francis Crick Institute can now begin on March. These scientists will be deactivating the genes of the embryos in the hopes of determining whether or not these genes inhibit development.
The initial experimentation stage will utilize 30 embryos, a number which the scientists plan to quadruple by working on three genes more. The experiment will still need to pass an ethics evaluation.
The scientists believed that by determining which genes were responsible for healthy cell division, they will be able to potentially avert miscarriages. The primary goal of the experimentation is to help fertility problems encountered by many couples. According to the report, faulty genetic code may be responsible for the non-development of approximately 50 percent of fertilized eggs.
Many critics of the experiment have warned that such may pave the way for the making of designer babies. According to Anne Scanlan, member of LIFE charity, "The HFEA now has the reputation of being the first regulator in the world to approve this uncertain and dangerous technology." She added, "It has ignored the warnings of over a hundred scientists worldwide and given permission for a procedure which could have damaging far-reaching implications for human beings."
This experimentation will be the second in the world, with the first undertaken in China in 2015. CNN reported that the procedure done in China edited a gene which was said to cause blood disorder.
According to U.S. National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins, "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."
