DailyDirt: Nature Vs. CRISPR

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The reality of designer babies seems to be more and more likely -- especially now that gene editing tools like CRISPR are becoming more refined and widespread in labs around the world. Legitimate concerns over a modern form of eugenics are being raised, and the ethical debates are getting less theoretical as the science pushes the boundaries of what can be done. People might be able to activate or delete genes without fully understanding the results, and the advances that can eliminate genetic disorders could also eliminate certain minorities or traits that are not necessarily disabilities. After you've finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.
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Filed Under: ada, biology, biotech, crispr, designer babies, dna, eugenics, gattaca, gene activation, gene editing, genetics, germline, gina


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  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 2 Feb 2016 @ 6:24pm

    Only one word

    GATTACA

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Judd Sandage (profile), 2 Feb 2016 @ 6:40pm

    NARF!!!

    Right Brain, but where are we going to get galoshes our size this time of night?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Mark Wing, 2 Feb 2016 @ 7:52pm

    Every day brings me closer to being able to order my clone army from Vista Print.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Cdaragorn (profile), 3 Feb 2016 @ 7:57am

    DNA is not always what it appears to be

    This is insane (referring to the kid getting kicked out of school). It's a classic case of people who have no clue what the information they're looking at means making decisions based on paranoia.

    We still don't fully understand what makes some genes active and others not in DNA. It's awesome what we've learned so far, but having markers of any kind doesn't really tell us anything right now. All we know is that we've seen these DNA strand patterns in others who exhibited certain traits and maybe there's some correlation. The fact that the kid doesn't actually have the disease is the only fact that matters.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 3 Feb 2016 @ 9:20am

    Any update on how the battle over the patent for this technology is going?
    http://www.nature.com/news/bitter-fight-over-crispr-patent-heats-up-1.17961

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 3 Feb 2016 @ 9:49am

    Inaccessible Genes

    I'm not sure from the article: does this mean that genes can be activated in any cell cluster, or are we only talking stem cells here?

    In other words, does this technique allow them to enable gills or pheromone receptors in fetal development, or would it allow me to generate a new liver (or both?)

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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