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Scientist can edit human embryos

A U.K. researcher has gotten a green light to modify human embryos (pictured, 4 days after fertilization).

Developmental biologist Kathy Niakan has received permission from U.K. authorities to modify human embryos using CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technology.
Niakan, who works at the Francis Crick Institute in London, applied for permission to use the technique in studies to better understand the role of key genes during the first few days of human embryo development. The debate about the ethics of editing embryonic genomes has raged for several years; critics say studies such as Niakan’s could be the first step toward “designer babies” or even eugenics. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), which grants licenses for work with human embryos, sperm, and eggs in the United Kingdom, approved Niakan’s application at a meeting of HFEA’s license committee on 14 January. The minutes of that meeting state that “[o]n balance, the proposed use of CRISPR/Cas9 … was a justified technical approach to obtaining research data about gene function from the embryos used.”

See More : http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/02/uk-researcher-receives-permission-edit-genes-human-embryos" target="_blank">http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/02/uk-researcher-receives-permission-edit-genes-human-embryos
Source : Science Magazine, Feb 2016