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Gene-edited Babies

Submitted by lgarneau on Wed, 02/20/2019 - 12:29

In 2018 the news of the first gene-edited baby ignited a firestorm. Chinese researchers edited these children's genes by using CRISPR/Cas9 to block HIV infections. This received a lot of backlash because of the ethics behind it. Many people believe that implanting gene-edited embryos to create babies is premature and exposes the children to unnecessary health risks. Alike vaccinations, many people believe that putting these into your system, it will have the opposite effect and may make you more likely to develop the illness. So far, the evidence shows no adverse effects however the babies have not had a long enough time living to determine anything. The researcher went on to explain that another woman is participating in the gene-editing trail and she is in the early stages of pregnancy.

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