The International scientific community is gingerly handling the news that scientists in China have genetically modified human embryos for the first time.
The first-of it's kind study was published without much fanfare Saturday in the little-known, open access journal Protein & Cell. NOVA senior digital editor Tim De Chant told WGBH's All Things Considered host Deb Daigle today that while the new DNA research is a breakthrough for science-- it's real value is in the ethical conversation it is stirring.
Under different circumstances, this might be the science news of the year: Shouted from the proverbial mountaintops, heavily publicized and splashed across the pages of renown journals like Science or Nature...So why has the news been so hush-hush?
As De Chant wrotetoday on NOVA Next, it was only a matter of time before scientists somewhere modified a human embryo. However, De Chant says the results were not particularly impressive and many publications turned down the study due to ethical concerns.
"Any research into embryos is contentious" says De Chant. "You're dealing with something that could go on to become a human life."
Junjui Huang of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, led the research and made the unsuccessful attempts to to publish in several journals. De Chant explains that the researchers were trying to remove a fatal blood cell disorder by editing the genome…However many of the peer scientists who reviewed the study found that it didn't do much besides tell them what won't work.
The scientists at the University in Guangzhou edited 86 embryos, but only 71 made it to last testing phase. Out of those remaining, only 28 carried the edits they hoped to see through.
De Chant says there may have been some ethical wiggle room-- These particular cells, known as triploids, had three copies of chromosomes... which makes it very unlikely that they would go on to become viable embryos. But for the most part, scientists were dismayed that this research moved forward in the first place. In fact, DNA researchers met in January to discuss embryonic research and collectively decided not to move forward until they decided the most ethical way to do so.
Yet, not all scientists have been deterred by the lukewarm reception--De Chant says there are rumors that 4 other groups in China are working on new trial also involving genetically modified human embryos. De Chant says once the ethics are worked out, we could see more research develop around modification of human embryos to edit out genetic diseases passed between parent and child.
The takeaway? Not every scientific advance should be done for its own sake, says De Chant.
“It didn't teach them anything new about genetic tools they were using or teach them anything about embryo modification-- which was already being done in animal model--doing it in humans is really just saying that we could."
De Chant says that more than the actual research, the handling of ethical concerns FIRST is the big lesson scientists will take away from this.
For more of Tim De Chant's reporting on breaking science news, visit NOVA's website. The NOVA television program is produced here at WGBH... You can catch it on WGBH channel 2 Wednesday evenings at 9:00.
