ID: 7467809
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Worries about “designer babies” might obscure the threat of far more likely abuses from a fast-moving genetic engineering method, researchers warned Tuesday at an international scientific summit.
An era of elite athletes doping their genes with muscle-builders intended for the elderly, or of genetic treatments intended to boost cognition in Alzheimer’s patients infiltrating the business world, were among the abuses conjured up at the International Summit on Human Gene Editing.
Held at the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and co-sponsored by science academies of China and the United Kingdom, the international summit this week features scientific and ethical presentations devoted to the brave, new world of genetic engineering promised by a new gene editing biotechnology called CRISPR.