Britain approves controversial gene-editing technique

PanARMENIAN.Net - Britain on Monday, February 1 granted its first license for the genetic modification of human embryos as part of research into infertility and why miscarriages happen, in a move likely to raise ethical concerns, AFP reports.

"Our license committee has approved an application from Dr Kathy Niakan of the Francis Crick Institute to renew her laboratory's research license to include gene editing of embryos," the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA) said in a statement.

Niakan has said she is planning to modify the embryos using a technique known as CRISPR-Cas90.

The embryos will not become children as they must be destroyed within 14 days and can only be used for basic research. She plans to find the genes at play in the first few days of fertilization when an embryo develops a coating of cells that later become the placenta.

The embryos to be used in the research are ones that would have been destroyed, donated by couples receiving In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) treatment who do not need them.

Researchers were quick to hail the decision.

The project should "assist infertile couples and reduce the anguish of miscarriage," Bruce Whitelaw, professor of animal biotechnology at the University of Edinburgh, told the Science Media Centre.