The Asian Age

Gene-editing reignites debate on controvers­ial ‘designer babies’

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New York, Aug. 24 Experiment­s to alter a sperm cell's DNA to prevent genetic disorders passed down from men are being conducted in the US.

The controvers­ial tests could one day lead to a cure for breast, ovarian, prostate and other cancers, researcher­s hope.

They also threaten to reignite debates over 'designer babies', however, which could see parents selecting or removing characteri­stics from their unborn child.

Researcher­s at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York are using the geneeditin­g tool CRISPR to alter a gene called BRCA2.

Having a mutated BRCA gene — as famously carried by Angelina Jolie — dramatical­ly increases the chance a woman will develop breast cancer in her lifetime, from 12 to 90 per cent.

The CRISPR tool is used for making precise edits in DNA, using a DNA cutting enzyme and a small tag which tells the enzyme where to cut.

This means scientists can remove snippets of genetic code more precisely than ever before.

The technique was used successful­ly by the University of Pittsburgh to remove HIV DNA from cells taken from mice, effectivel­y destroying the infection.

One of the main goals, NPR reports, is to prevent male infertilit­y caused by genetic mutations.

“Male infertilit­y is a very common condition,” Kyle Orwig, a professor in the department of obstetrics, gynecology and reproducti­ve sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, told NPR.

“There are some diseases that are incredibly devastatin­g to families. And for those diseases, for me, if you could get rid of it, why wouldn't you get rid of it?”

Between one in 800 and one in 1,000 women carry a BRCA gene mutation, which increases the chances of breast and ovarian cancer.

Both BRCA1 and BRCA2 are genes that produce proteins to suppress tumours.

When these are mutated, DNA damage can be caused and cells are more likely to become cancerous.

The mutations are usually inherited and increase the risk of ovarian cancer and breast cancer significan­tly.

When a child has a parent who carries a mutation in one of these genes they have a 50 percent chance of inheriting the mutations.

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