Swedish Scientist Enters the Taboo Zone of Genetically Modified Children Through Embryo Gene Research

Fredrik Lanner, a developmental biologist at Karolinska Institutet, is the first scientist attempting to alter the DNA of healthy human embryos to discover how genes regulate embryo development. By attempting to change the genes of healthy human embryos, this Swedish scientist is definitely entering a taboo zone. Lanner hopes that his work will aid in treating infertility and preventing miscarriages, as well as discovering how stem cells can be used to treat diseases, reports International Business Times.

– If we can understand how those early cells function in a real embryo, that knowledge will help us in treating patients with diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, various types of blindness, and other illnesses, Lanner told NPR.

The embryos are subjected to research up to seven days old and will not be allowed to develop longer than 14 days, with about twelve having ‘participated’ in the research so far. These are embryos donated by couples undergoing in vitro fertilization. Critics consider this research dangerous as an unintentional mistake could lead to the development of a new disease that could be passed down through generations. Additionally, this research could open the door to designing children.

Marcy Darnovsky from the Center for Genetics and Society stated to NPR that producing genetically modified children could lead to the creation of a new world where these children would be biologically superior, resulting in various forms of social disasters.

– When you change the genes of human embryos, it means you are changing the genes of every cell in the body of each offspring and all future generations of that human being, Darnovsky said, and these are permanent and likely irreversible changes for which we do not even know what they would exactly mean.