Inventors of Powerful Gene Modification Technique Urge Against its Use

Inventors of a revolutionary genome editing technique are now calling for a moratorium of its use citing intended consequences for the human genome.

The technique, a recent invention, is said to be far efficient than any at making specific modifications to the genetic code of an organism. Called,

CRISPR-Cas9, the technique has been successfully used in animal studies. However use in humans to modify the germline, which would pass on modifications to future generations, is a matter of grave concern for the inventors as they believe there is a lot more that is needed to be learnt before the technique can be employed.

"Given the speed with which the genome engineering field is evolving, our group concluded that there is an urgent need for open discussion of the merits and risks of human genome modification by a broad cohort of scientists, clinicians, social scientists, the general public and relevant public entities and interest groups," the authors wrote in the journal Science, according to a communique from UC Berkley.

The technique is said to be simple yet highly efficient and can be used to carry out experiments which were earlier difficult or impossible to perform. The technique involves using a protein guided by RNA to clip off a desired portion of DNA and later allow insertion or replacement with another DNA stretch. The protein slices DNA which proves a match to its guide RNA.

While it can be used to replace defective portions of the human genome, technique's modifications made to human eggs, sperm or embryos, could have future consequences which are poorly understood today, fear bioethicists.