A potentially monumental breakthrough in science..
Researchers from South Korea and the U.S.
say they've figured out a way to edit DNA
in human embryos to remove an inherited heart
disorder -- and did so without introducing
harmful mutations.
Park Ji-won has more.
Researchers at Korea's Institute for Basic
Science, America's Oregon Health and Science
University and the Salk Institute have jointly
used a technique involving CRISPR-Cas9,...
a type of gene-editing tool,... to correct
a genetic mutation for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
The heart disorder affects one in every 500
people,... and leads to the heart suddenly
stopping.
Those who have the mutation have a 50:50 chance
of passing it on their children.
For the study,... which was published in the
latest issue of the scientific journal Nature,...
defective sperm were injected into eggs from
a healthy woman and CRISPR-Cas9 was used to
correct the genetic flaw.
CRISPR-Cas9 works as a pair of molecular scissors
that can selectively trim away unwanted parts
of the genome, and replace them with new stretches
of DNA,... and the result shows the genetic
repair happened at the moment of conception.
Although it didn't work every time, the results
showed that over 70 percent of embryos successfully
removed the disease,... while the other 27
percent of the embryos turned out to have
further unexpected mutations due to the experiment.
The study was conducted in the U.S.,... as
Korea's law prohibits genetic modification
of human embryos.
The Korean scientists, instead,... were in
charge of the CRISPR-Cas9 technology and analysis
of the results.
There have been previous attempts to use the
gene-editing technology in China, but results
were mixed and there were a number of safety
concerns, such as other parts of the genetic
code becoming mutated.
Thus further research is needed before the
experiment becomes routine practice.
The Korean researchers of the study, meanwhile,...
stressed that it paved a new way for preventing
incurable genetic disorders,... and highlighted
the necessity of changing the nation's law
on bioethics.
Park Ji-won, Arirang News.
