Posted on: 24 April 2015, source: Nature
Germ-line gene therapy: A group of scientists in China has just crossed one of biotechnology's red lines.
Chinese scientists have caused an uproar by trying to permanently edit the DNA of human embryos — created genetic changes that could be passed along from generation to generation. Their attempt didn't work very well, but the report, published in a small, online journal called Protein & Cell, has worried experts who have been watching out for such experiments. The motivation is to cure disease. In this experiment, the researchers were trying to correct defects in a gene called HBB that can cause a deadly blood disorder called beta-thalassemia. Gene therapy in adults and children is still experimental; the idea is to fix faulty disease-causing genes. But done in a very early embryo, the repair, called germline editing, would be permanent. It could also be passed along to future generations.