Some scientistsin the United States recently announced that the world’s first genetically modified humans have been created—30 of such babies were born after a series of experiments led by the “brilliant but controversial” Professor Jacques Cohen.
The experiments conducted by Cohen and his team aimed to allow infertile women to conceive by injecting their eggs with genetic bio-materials from women who are able to reproduce—the result is children who have inherited DNA from three “parents”.
This announcement has caused furious debate about ethics—several experts have based their strong criticisms of the experiments on the fact that they have effectively altered the human germline, the “very make-up of our species”.
According to Cohen, it is possible to go beyond genetically modified babies and actually clone children with his expertise—“It would be an afternoon’s work for one of my students.”
What do you think—have this opened up previously unimaginable opportunities for humanity or is this the first step down the wrong road?
[via Daily Mail]