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To clarify the ethical problem in this research: It's not the same as in stem cell research. When just using stem cells for research, and not "growing them out"
by bayesianhorse 11y ago
To clarify the ethical problem in this research: It's not the same as in stem cell research. When just using stem cells for research, and not "growing them out" to a human being, the main ethical issue is "messing" with creation, however you believe creation happened or what it means for your religion or morality.
But in this research, the intent is to let the embryos develop into full human beings. It would be unethical to edit such a genome if it is uncertain whether or not the individual will suffer due to these changes.
The problem they talk about is that you trade one deadly or very damaging mutation with a couple dozen other mutations with unknown consequences. These are almost certainly harmless, but the risk of introducing another catastrophic defect is still too big.
To make this tradeoff more secure you would need to sequence the embryo's genome at a certain state in its development (after gene editing, but before transplantation) and check it for errors. But we neither have the technology to get accurate genomes from a few (or just one) cell, nor do we have the genetic maps required to tell if mutations have consequences or not.
- nichtich 11y agoyou obviously didn't read the article. They are using embryoes to be diacarded with defects that would never be able to develop into human beings.
- kefka 11y agoPlease. It makes perfect sense that the Chinese scientists are working with viable human embryos. The Chinese aren't infected with "Christian ethics". And doing that work gets them a leg up against the rest of the countries that can't or won't. The part about "we only use discards" is absolute bullshit.
- arbitrage 11y agoPlease. Let's stick to facts and not hyperbole.
- cowsandmilk 11y agoOne could debate whether tripronuclear embryos are viable, but it is undisputed that they are discarded by IVF clinics. IVF clinics play it safe and only implant embryos that have two pronuclei. Why risk implanting one that seems to have an extra pronucleus?
- bayesianhorse 11y agoThe technique is useless if it is not applied to embryoes which can develop. Sure they may be doing it to nonviable embryoes currently, but that's not the goal.
- user_0001 11y ago>however you believe creation happened... There is one accepted path of how we currently think we came to be and a make believe story of how it was created. Religion and morality do not come into it
- wyager 11y ago>But in this research, the intent is to let the embryos develop into full human beings As clearly stated in the article, they used embryos with too many chromosomes to be viable. >the main ethical issue is "messing" with creation, however you believe creation happened http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_nature http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_nature
- bayesianhorse 11y agoThe technique is useless if not applied to embryos which don't develop. What the article is talking about is foundational research, not an attempt to actually apply the technique, and I was referring to the eventual application.