By: Dan
For the first time in America, scientists have managed to genetically modify a human embryo. This is enormous news as it puts into motion plans for a future in which babies’ traits are picked rather than left up to chance.
For instance, scientists are now capable of repairing DNA in a human embryo responsible for causing a genetic heart disease called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. They also discovered potentially important DNA repair mechanisms that can take place early in embryo development.
Although this is a significant step forward, we are still a ways off from developing the technology that designs humans from scratch. Currently, all we are able to accomplish is remove recessive and dominant disorders. Our current capabilities only includes cutting out parts of DNA, not adding anything. Suffice to say, we will not have any hybrid humans anytime soon; however, technology is definitely evolving to reach this ultimate goal.
