Human Embryos News and Research

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Gene editing and designer babies experiments face global moratorium

Powerful gene editing tools could soon face a global regulations on their use on human embryos, sperms or eggs.

20 Mar 2019

Gene editing regulations to be tightened

Last week a group of scientists from across the globe came together to sign a moratorium on gene editing in humans.

20 Mar 2019

Call for halt to human gene editing and designer babies experiments

Powerful gene editing tools could soon face a global regulations on their use on human embryos, sperms or eggs.

18 Mar 2019

Research on mosaic embryos gives new hope to people seeking infertility treatments

Not every embryo contains 46 perfect chromosomes. Some have more, others have fewer. The result is a common abnormality known as aneuploidy, which occurs in as many as 80 percent of human embryos.

5 Mar 2019

The gene-edited twins born in China may have altered cognition and memory

A new study has fuelled further concerns over the controversial gene-editing experiment that was performed in China last year.

22 Feb 2019

Controversial gene editing of embryos stopped by the Chinese authorities

The Chinese government has stopped the gene editing works of Professor He Jiankui calling it unlawful and unethical. Notably Professor Jiankui had recently claimed to have produced the world’s first pair of twins who have their genetic codes edited so that they would never be infected with HIV.

29 Nov 2018

ASHG reaffirms cautious but proactive approach recommended in its 2017 position statement on germline genome editing

Given this morning's reports of infants possibly born in China whose genomes were edited by CRISPR-based technology, the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) reaffirms the cautious but proactive approach recommended in its 2017 position statement on human germline genome editing, published in The American Journal of Human Genetics.

26 Nov 2018

Participation project calls for relaxing research ban on germline interventions

Are genetic defects allowed to be repaired by intervening with sperm or egg cells, or even human embryos? Thanks to genetic scissors such as CRISPR/Cas, such interventions in the germline could soon become a medical reality.

19 Nov 2018

Cells retain memory of chemical signals to which they are exposed

We all start out as a clump of identical cells. As these cells divide and multiply, they gradually take on distinct identities, acquiring the traits necessary to form, for instance, muscle tissue, bone, or nerves. A recent study from Rockefeller scientists offers new insight into how these cellular identities are cultivated over the course of development.

9 Nov 2018

Researchers aim to create more authentic organoids for drug testing, transplantation

Human embryos start as a tiny mass of cells that are all the same. The first step in growing from a homogenous ball of cells into a complex individual with distinct organs and tissues is for the cells to divide into distinct populations.

10 Oct 2018

The feds’ termination of a tiny contract inflames bitter fight over fetal tissue

Federal health officials announced late last month they had terminated their contract with a company that supplies human fetal tissue for medical research and were checking that similar contracts, as well as studies conducted with that tissue, comply with federal law.

8 Oct 2018

Researchers create pseudo-embryos that mimic human embryos

Researchers have created murine pseudo-embryos that form the three major axes of the body and are able to accurately mimic human embryos.

3 Oct 2018

Study shares public views of using gene editing to change unborn baby’s genetic makeup

A majority of Americans support the idea of using gene editing with the goal of delivering direct health benefits for babies.

27 Jul 2018

Most Americans skeptical about gene editing

A new survey from Pew Research Center has found that nearly half of the surveyed Americans believe that in the coming 50 years, nearly all genetic birth defects could be eliminated due to advances in gene editing.

26 Jul 2018

Study reveals how devastating mitochondrial diseases strike families without any previous history

Researchers have shown for the first time how children can inherit a severe - potentially fatal - mitochondrial disease from a healthy mother.

15 Jan 2018

Gene technology can be potential game-changer for agriculture

Consumers will soon be eating gene-edited foods that have added nutrients, potatoes that do not turn brown, and mushrooms with a longer shelf life, scientists at The University of Queensland predict.

10 Nov 2017

Studies shed new light on leading cause of birth defects and miscarriage

Two recent Northwestern University studies shed new light on the mystery of the leading cause of birth defects and miscarriage, laying the foundation for further research in an understudied but crucially important field of genetic study.

3 Oct 2017

“Chemical surgery” on embryos to free them of a gene causing thalassemia

A team of Chinese researchers have for the first time “mended” defective embryos using chemical surgery to free them of a faulty gene that leads to beta thalassemia. Until now this defect was found to be incorrigible caused due to a single misspelling in the DNA code. Beta thalassemia is a dreaded blood disorder wherein the child is unable to make healthy blood needing blood transfusions on a regular basis. The study was published this week in the journal Protein and Cell.

2 Oct 2017

Scientists use genome editing to understand role of a gene key to human embryonic development

Researchers have used a genome-editing technique to elucidate the role of a gene that is key to human embryonic development.

21 Sep 2017

Scientists question CRISPR human embryo editing claims

A paper published in the journal Nature on the 2nd August described how a gene editing tool CRISPR could be used to correct a genetic mutation that leads to a heart condition. This team had performed the genetic editing on the gene sequences in dozens of viable human embryos to attempt to prevent a genetic heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

31 Aug 2017