The Designer Human Is Coming

Designer babies are about to exist.

But don’t freak out just yet “” it’s kind of (really) illegal, so we won’t be seeing any crazy genetically modified humans walking the planet just yet.

That’s not to say science is not working its butt off to get this crazy ball rolling, introducing a new gene-editing tool called CRISPR Cas-9, which has the potential to actually cut human genes like scissors.

This week, the UK’s Human Fertilisation and Embryo Authority gave the first approval to use the machine to permanently modify DNA in a human embryo. Hello designer babies!

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute led by Kathy Niakan will try to edit the DNA to better understand the genes needed in the earliest stages of human development. It is hoped this “editing” process will provide better clinical treatments for infertility, such as IVF.

About CRISPR Cas-9

CRISPR Cas-9 is an insanely precise “molecular scissor” or gene-editing tool that allows DNA to be broken, moved, repaired, and modified.

It basically means scientists can choose which gene they want to modify, use the CRISPR “molecular scissors” to snip it out, and swap in a more desirable version. Then the cell repairs the DNA.

The tool’s name refers to the gene and protein pairing that makes up the system and allows scientists to remove and/or replace genes in cells with revolutionary ease, control and precision.

Basically, it has made gene editing as easy as carving out a pumpkin with the world’s sharpest spoon.

Designer baby fears

It is the ease and efficiency of the CRISPR Cas-9 that has raised fears among the science community, for the unintended consequences it may cause.

“Its open-endedness means we are at a tipping point,” said Dr Ainsley Newson, senior lecturer in bioethics at the University of Sydney.

“Any changes made now to plants, animals or humans may have changes that last forever. So we need to do this slowly and responsibly.”

There is also widespread concern that a powerful tool like CRISPR Cas-9 could be used by parents to create “designer babies”, where parents can choose the perfect genes for their children, including what they will look like and how healthy, talented or smart they will be.

Hank Greely, a lawyer and bioethicist at Stanford University said that he thinks “designer babies” is a non-issue.

“There’s this idea that the human germline is the sacred essence of our species,” Greely said at the Cold Spring Harbour conference, as told by www.businessinsider.com.au. But that’s nonsense, he added, because we share most of our genes with other species.

In fact, existing methods already allow parents some limited control over their children’s DNA. The most common form of this combines genetic screening with in vitro fertilization (IVF).

For example, parents who are carriers for genetic disorders and diseases can undergo screening to ensure the faulty gene doesn’t get passed on to their children. Doctors can simply pick out a sperm and egg that contain healthy genes, combine them through in vitro fertilization, and implant that embryo in the mother.

With such powerful tools already available to parents and scientists, some wonder why CRISPR would even be necessary for human trials.

“I haven’t seen anybody give a legitimate medical reason [for using CRISPR in human embryos] that couldn’t be achieved through other means,” New York Times columnist and science writer Carl Zimmer told Business Insider.

“We’re not going to see huge armies of modified humans anytime soon.”

In the future, however, it’s not hard to imagine that CRISPR could be used to endow children with traits that can’t be screened for and aren’t medically necessary, like intelligence or athleticism.

But these traits are controlled by dozens of genes or more, and it could be years before we can enhance them without causing other, possibly lethal, genetic problems.

We can safety say that ‘designer babies’ are far from within reach, and may still never happen. And editing human embryos and then implanting them to pregnancy remains a criminal offence in Australia, so it’s not likely to happen any time soon.

It is likely, however that CRISPR-Cas9 will be used first to research inherited diseases caused by single-gene mutations, which can be easily targeted, such as cystic fibrosis or Huntington’s Disease. This we can be happy with.

Are we ready for designer human era?