Technology that allows alteration of genes in a human embryo has been used for the first time in the United States according to Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) in Portland.
The OHSU research is believed to have broken new ground both in the number of embryos experimented upon and by demonstrating it is possible to safely and efficiently correct defective genes that cause inherited diseases.
None of the embryos were allowed to develop for more than a few days. Some countries have signed a convention prohibiting the practice on concerns it could be used to create so-called designer babies.
Results of the peer-reviewed study are expected to be published soon in a scientific journal.
The research, led by Shoukhrat Mitalipov, head of OHSU’s Center for Embryonic Cell and Gene Therapy, involves a technology known as CRISPR that has opened up new frontiers in genetic medicine because of its ability to modify genes quickly and efficiently.
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