The US is beginning to consider biological procedures that, if successful, will allow the creation of genetically modified humans, Marcy Darnovsky, executive director of the Center for Genetics and Society, reported in an article for The New York Times. The FDA Advisory Committee meetings will be held today and tomorrow.
“This is a dangerous move,” warns Darnowski. According to her, the methods "will change all the cells in the bodies of children born as a result of their application, and these changes will be passed on to future generations."
These are methods that the FDA calls "mitochondrial manipulation technologies." Nuclear material is extracted from the egg or embryo of a woman with hereditary mitochondrial disease and transplanted into a healthy egg or donor embryo (from which their own nuclear materials have been removed). So the offspring will carry the genes of three people: father, mother and donor, the article says.
The developers of these methods say they will allow sick women to give birth to healthy children with whom they are genetically related. Some suggest using them in cases of age-related infertility. “The goals are worthy, but the methods are extremely problematic in terms of medical risks and consequences for society,” the author comments. What if complications develop in children or in future generations? And how far will we go in trying to genetically engineer humans?
Many scientists and politicians call for the use of human genetic engineering tools carefully and thoughtfully - to heal, but not to manipulate the hereditary traits of future children. “Genetic modification of sperm, eggs and embryos at an early stage of development should be strictly prohibited. Otherwise, we risk slipping into human experiments and high-tech eugenics,”the author writes.
However, there are signs that resistance to inherited gene modifications, which dozens of countries have enshrined in legislation, is waning. The idea of manipulating mitochondria is being considered not only by American, but also by British departments.
The author notes that women with mitochondrial diseases have less dangerous ways for a child to have children (adoption, IVF using donor eggs).
“If we can do something, it doesn’t mean that we should do it,” concludes Marcy Darnowski.
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