Teh One Who Knocks
10-02-2019, 09:58 AM
By Michael Moran - The Daily Star
https://i.imgur.com/1b0JD0o.jpg
Russian leader Vladimir Putin is becoming involved in plans to legalise a controversial gene editing technique that Denis Rebrikov, a leading DNA-technology specialist, has described as “analogous to the atomic bomb.”
Rebrikov has announced he wants to use a DNA editing technique known as CRISPR to help a deaf couple who want to prevent their planned child from inheriting their condition.
CRISPR has been widely condemned as a dangerous technique that could lead to "designer babies" and the end of naturally-conceived humans.
There’s always the danger, too, we still don’t understand enough about genetics and tinkering with the building blocks of our biology could have unintended consequences that could never be undone.
https://i.imgur.com/nLbgAW6.jpg
Denis Rebrikov hopes to use CRISPR to disable the CCR5 gene to create HIV-resistant babies
Chinese scientist He Jiankui sparked an international outcry when he announced last November that he had made the world’s first gene-edited babies — twin girls who would be immune to HIV.
Rebrikov has suggested a number of “edits” he plans to make to the human genome, also including an immunity to HIV.
Former wrestler Rebrikov, 43, said he’s openly pushing ahead with the technique because he’s sure it’s safe and he’s “tired of waiting” for legislation to catch up with the scientific reality.
Rebrikov says that he’s “fairly certain” CRISPR is already being used in secret and it’s only a matter of time before it becomes mainstream.
https://i.imgur.com/qZkQBMF.jpg
There is no clear line on the issue in Russian law at present, and the World Health Organisation are expected to take at least another year to produce a definitive set of guidelines.
“Everyone is just yammering,” Rebrikov complains. “I want the rules to be set, but nobody is doing this.”
He draws parallels with the early days of nuclear weapons: “This situation is completely analogous to developing an atomic bomb,” he told Bloomberg News . “Can bad people use technology for bad purposes? Of course. But did ethical concerns stop the Soviet Union from doing so?”
https://i.imgur.com/3AnM4TD.jpg
Rebrikov has asked Maria Vorontsova to help him get President Putin's attention
In Russia the ultimate authority is president Vladimir Putin. Rebrikov has gone to the top to get support for his plans, by enlisting the president’s daughter Maria Vorontsova, herself an endocrinologist.
After a 3-hour meeting with Rebrikov, Ms Vorontsova was noncommittal about the outcome but she has been quoted as saying that “you cannot halt scientific progress. “
https://i.imgur.com/FtQiQnP.jpg
CRISPR could potentially cause unplanned mutations
Her father, the president, has also hinted that he sees a positive future for gene-editing, saying in 2017 that people would start editing pre-birth DNA “soon.”
Rebrikov thinks it’s only a matter of time before CRISPR is an accepted fact of life: “It currently costs about a million rubles ($15,500) to genetically change an embryo—more than a lot of cars—but prices will fall with greater use,” he told Bloomberg. “I can see the billboard now: ‘You Choose: a Hyundai Solaris or a Super-Child?’”
https://i.imgur.com/1b0JD0o.jpg
Russian leader Vladimir Putin is becoming involved in plans to legalise a controversial gene editing technique that Denis Rebrikov, a leading DNA-technology specialist, has described as “analogous to the atomic bomb.”
Rebrikov has announced he wants to use a DNA editing technique known as CRISPR to help a deaf couple who want to prevent their planned child from inheriting their condition.
CRISPR has been widely condemned as a dangerous technique that could lead to "designer babies" and the end of naturally-conceived humans.
There’s always the danger, too, we still don’t understand enough about genetics and tinkering with the building blocks of our biology could have unintended consequences that could never be undone.
https://i.imgur.com/nLbgAW6.jpg
Denis Rebrikov hopes to use CRISPR to disable the CCR5 gene to create HIV-resistant babies
Chinese scientist He Jiankui sparked an international outcry when he announced last November that he had made the world’s first gene-edited babies — twin girls who would be immune to HIV.
Rebrikov has suggested a number of “edits” he plans to make to the human genome, also including an immunity to HIV.
Former wrestler Rebrikov, 43, said he’s openly pushing ahead with the technique because he’s sure it’s safe and he’s “tired of waiting” for legislation to catch up with the scientific reality.
Rebrikov says that he’s “fairly certain” CRISPR is already being used in secret and it’s only a matter of time before it becomes mainstream.
https://i.imgur.com/qZkQBMF.jpg
There is no clear line on the issue in Russian law at present, and the World Health Organisation are expected to take at least another year to produce a definitive set of guidelines.
“Everyone is just yammering,” Rebrikov complains. “I want the rules to be set, but nobody is doing this.”
He draws parallels with the early days of nuclear weapons: “This situation is completely analogous to developing an atomic bomb,” he told Bloomberg News . “Can bad people use technology for bad purposes? Of course. But did ethical concerns stop the Soviet Union from doing so?”
https://i.imgur.com/3AnM4TD.jpg
Rebrikov has asked Maria Vorontsova to help him get President Putin's attention
In Russia the ultimate authority is president Vladimir Putin. Rebrikov has gone to the top to get support for his plans, by enlisting the president’s daughter Maria Vorontsova, herself an endocrinologist.
After a 3-hour meeting with Rebrikov, Ms Vorontsova was noncommittal about the outcome but she has been quoted as saying that “you cannot halt scientific progress. “
https://i.imgur.com/FtQiQnP.jpg
CRISPR could potentially cause unplanned mutations
Her father, the president, has also hinted that he sees a positive future for gene-editing, saying in 2017 that people would start editing pre-birth DNA “soon.”
Rebrikov thinks it’s only a matter of time before CRISPR is an accepted fact of life: “It currently costs about a million rubles ($15,500) to genetically change an embryo—more than a lot of cars—but prices will fall with greater use,” he told Bloomberg. “I can see the billboard now: ‘You Choose: a Hyundai Solaris or a Super-Child?’”