fapnewstoday.com

Developing gene therapies for rare diseases is one thing. Creating gene-edited “designer babies” is quite another.

German legal expert Timo Minssen outlined the potentially explosive ethical landmines surrounding such issues during a recent talk at the New York Genome Center.

… Minssen said the rapidly growing global market for CRISPR/Cas9 technology could reach $10 billion by 2025, and that “other gene editing technologies hold enormous potential for sickle cell disease, cystic fibrosis and hemophilia.”

Yet CRISPR, he warned, also can be used for dubious purposes.

… “What’s clear is that human genetic editing is particularly tricky. The Lisbon Treaty has specific provisions banning these practices on humans, but we really need international treaties here.”