2 ms·
As someone in molecular biology, genetic engineering is grossly overblown by the public, no thanks to the recent news story out of china. No one wants to edit t
by wasdfff 8y ago
As someone in molecular biology, genetic engineering is grossly overblown by the public, no thanks to the recent news story out of china. No one wants to edit the germline in humans (aside from the discredited researcher). People want to edit the germline in mice, work out the mechanism of action of a given genetic variant, and develop a drug.
It’s a far safer proposition for someone with a known genetic illness to just be put on medication for their entire life than something so permanent and not guarenteed as attempting to edit their parents germ cells. If your medication is bad for the patient you can just get them off of it. You can’t do too much if your CRISPR system goes off target (which is known to happen).