Experts in gene research suggest that our worst fears about gene editing will not come true because they are too difficult to fulfill. You see, one of the main public concerns about the CRISPR gene editing method is that it can be used to create "designer babies" with increased intelligence. In the worst case, it can give an unfair advantage to parents who can afford to improve their offspring. For example, a July 2018 poll among residents of the American city of Pew found that their greatest concern was that CRISPR "will only be available to the rich."
They needn't worry, three leading gene-editing scientists consoled them. Intelligence is too complex to be designed, which is good, because it is intelligence that will save us from the dangers of human arrogance.
Designer babies and CRISPR
In November, Chinese scientist He Jiankui claimed that he had secretly used a gene-editing tool to create HIV-immune twin girls. This raised alarm because it showed that the production of designer babies is not only impossible to stop - it is already happening.
But public concern about the creation of intellectual elites is likely to be groundless. So say scientists who published a paper last week in the New England Journal of Medicine. The article was written by George Daly, Dean of the Harvard School of Medicine and two European experts in embryology, Robin Lovell-Badge and Julie Steffann.
We have linked over a thousand genes to IQ or people's success in school. At this point, scientists don't know what these genes are doing, and more importantly, gene editing tools have yet to get to the point of modifying embryonic genes in many places.
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For the authors of the article, such ignorance is bliss. They want gene editing to be used to eradicate genetic diseases in embryos - and they believe it is possible. Since serious congenital diseases, such as Huntington's syndrome or cystic fibrosis, are often caused by specific DNA errors in individual genes, CRISPR can correct them. They say doing it in the bud is the best way to get rid of the problem.
Daly and others now want this kind of medicine to move forward. But it will be harder if gene editing is used crudely, as regulators continue to prohibit it and public opinion deteriorates.
In the case of the twins, He Jiankui said he deleted a gene called CCR5 to make them immune to HIV. Although He was in some ways the first, Daly and colleagues believe it was a shameful study that violates ethical rules. He will forever be remembered for his reckless disregard for widely defined scientific, clinical, and ethical standards.
He is now under house arrest.
And this is just the beginning - there are very good reasons for changing embryos. For example, if a couple cannot have healthy children or do not want to pass on risky genes when trying to conceive a child using IVF. Be that as it may, CRISPR is being used for purposes the public considers troubling. Most people are fine with this tool if it eradicates disease. But only 20% think it is a good idea to use it to "improve" a person - in particular, to increase the intelligence of offspring.
Fortunately for scientists, they don't have to decide whether it is good or bad to improve the intelligence of the embryo. They say it is impossible, so there is nothing to worry about.
Ilya Khel