These embryos were made in the lab with sperm carrying a genetic mutation known to cause hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. CRISPR/Cas9 was used to correct the mutation.
Credit: OHSU

CRISPR/Cas9 is a gene editing technology that’s revolutionizing science at a breathtaking pace.

One of its most exciting, taboo, and controversial applications is tweaking the genes of eggs, sperm, or early embryos to alter a human life. This could one day mean the ability to create smarter or more athletic humans (yes, “designer babies”), but also the chance to knock out disease-causing genetic mutations that parents pass on to their children. We’re talking about eliminating mutations linked to diseases like breast and ovarian cancers or cystic fibrosis.

On Wednesday, a team of scientists reported that they have made major progress toward proving the latter is possible.

In a paper published in the prestigious journal Nature, a team led by Shoukhrat Mitalipovof Oregon Health and Science University described how it used CRISPR/Cas9 to correct a genetic mutation that’s linked to a heart disorder called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in human embryos. And they did it without the errors that have plagued previous attempts […]