Scientists Trying to Edit Human DNA: NPR Report

Bioethics, , ,

Recently we wrote about American scientists working in China to create human-monkey hybrids.

The goal, researchers say, is to grow organs for transplant patients, but other scientists have pointed out problems with this explanation.

Here’s another story about similar research being carried out on U.S. soil:

Last week NPR reported that scientists in America now are trying to manipulate human DNA.

The scientists are using the controversial gene-editing technology CRISPR.

The goal is to eliminate certain genetic anomalies and diseases.

NPR writes,

First it was human embryos. Now scientists are trying to develop another way to modify human DNA that can be passed on to future generations, NPR has learned.

Reproductive biologists at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City are attempting to use the powerful gene-editing technique called CRISPR to alter genes in human sperm. NPR got exclusive access to watch the controversial experiments underway. . . .

But others say editing DNA in sperm raises the same troubling questions as editing DNA in embryos. Would it ever be safe to make babies that way? Would it open the door to someone someday trying to make “designer babies”? Should scientists be trying to tinker with the human gene pool in ways that could affect generations to come?

There are plenty of reasons this kind of research is unethical. Here are two:

First, after manipulating the DNA in human sperm, the next logical step is to create human embryos for testing.

In other cases where CRISPR was used to edit human genes, this meant creating and killing unborn babies in the name of “science.” This kind of “create-and-kill” research is simply unconscionable.

Second, this research inevitably treats unborn children like lab material. The children created and affected by these sorts of gene-editing experiments have zero say in what happens to them. They are at the mercy of the researchers.

As we have said many times, human beings are not research material, but gene-editing technologies like CRISPR treat them that way.

All scientific research must respect the sanctity of human life.

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California Passes Bill Against DIY Gene Hacking

Bioethics,

Recently the California General Assembly passed a law against so-called “do-it-yourself” gene hacking.

Modern technology makes it possible to edit the human genome. While it sounds like the stuff of science fiction, we’ve seen headlines recently about scientists in China who have edited human genes and tried to create human/animal hybrids.

Gene-editing technologies like CRISPR have hit the open market, but California, of all states, seems to want to do something about it.

John Stonestreet at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview writes,

The [California] Assembly passed, and Governor Newsom signed, a bill that prohibits the sale of do-it-yourself genetic engineering kits—unless the kit has a label warning that it is “not for self-administration.”

Hey, it’s a start. As noted at Vox, Silicon Valley is home to the biohacking movement, which, in essence, attempts to extend life through technology. But tinkering with the human genome poses enormous risks not only to those who self-edit their genes, but to the public at large.

One Oakland biohacker has been selling such kits, so it’s entirely appropriate that California has now passed the “first-ever legislation addressing emerging CRISPR technology, [which] will help prevent safety mishaps by amateur users of CRISPR kits.”

CRISPR is the same gene-editing technology that scientists have used to clone and kill human embryos for research.

As we have said many times, human beings are not research material, but gene-hacking technologies like CRISPR treat them that way.

All scientific research must respect the sanctity of human life.

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Scientists Monkeying With Human/Animal Hybrid Research

Bioethics,

American scientists — this time working in China — reportedly are once again experimenting with human/animal hybrids.

John Stonestreet with the Colson Center for Christian Worldview writes,

Free from those pesky regulations that protect human rights and ensure ethical research practice, the scientists injected human stem cells into monkey embryos. Their hope, they say, is to grow organs like kidneys and livers made up entirely of human cells, which could be used for transplants. Ah yes, that whole “trust us, we’re helping you” trope.

As one California scientist told the MIT Technology Review, the experiments make no sense. Such organs would be “too small” and take “too long to develop.” Perhaps, he continued, “the researchers have more basic scientific questions in mind,” such as addressing questions of “interspecies barriers.”

While stories about this kind of bizarre research sound like the stuff of science fiction and fake news, they actually are well documented and have been going on for years.

During the Obama Administration, the National Institutes for Health announced plans to scrap a policy that prevented funding from going to research that hybridized human beings and animals.

At the time, some scientists in the U.S. were injecting pig embryos with human stem cells, and the NIH was interested in supporting that type of research.

Needless to say, pro-life groups raised a number of ethical concerns about the NIH’s proposed rule change.

You would think it would be obvious to the scientific community that the earth doesn’t need half-human, half-animal creatures. Apparently that is not the case.

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