© G. Lenz/ Global Look Press
Genetically modifying an embryo's DNA to prevent heritable diseases could be "ethically acceptable", a landmark report has claimed. Critics, however, say it would pave the way for 'designer babies'.
The Nuffield Council of Bioethics, an independent charitable body investigating the ethics of certain biological and medical developments, said in a
report that while it does not support overhauling current legislation so that embryo gene editing can be carried out, it does not mean the UK should fall short of doing so in the future.
"Whilst there is still uncertainty over the sorts of things genome editing might be able to achieve, or how widely its use might spread, we have concluded that the potential use of genome editing to influence the characteristics of future generations is not unacceptable in itself," said Karen Yeung, a professor of law, ethics and informatics at Britain's Birmingham University, who chaired the panel.
Comment: Analysis of earth's history by mainstream science is seriously distorted by their unwillingness to accept that our planet has undergone cataclysmic changes in the recent past which, if taken into account, could dramatically change their reading of the data. What this does seem to confirm is the many naturally occurring shifts to the make-up of our planet and perhaps how well life adapts: