It has long been a scientific dream: to inoculate people against terrible diseases before they're born. Now a team of doctors based in China has dangled that possibility in front of us by claiming it has edited the DNA of two human embryos during in vitro fertilization. The goal of the project was to protect the two (now twin baby girls) from HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
If this was intended to be a gift to the world, though, it came in ugly wrapping. The principal investigator didn't bother with such scientific protocols as peer review and publishing in a respected journal. Instead, he made claims about his results informally to a colleague at a conference, granted an interview to the Associated Press and posted a video on YouTube. He offered no evidence or independent corroboration that his experiment succeeded.
And if indeed it did take place as described, it unquestionably crossed all sorts of ethical and safety lines.
Even leaving aside worries about eugenics and genetically designed super-babies bred for looks or athletic skills, there's also the fact that gene editing isn't just a treatment for an individual. It changes the human genome; if successful, it will be passed on to future generations and spread through the population.
In some cases, that could be a good thing. But there could also be unintended consequences that might more than offset any positive effects. Gene editing can accidentally change genes other than those targeted in ways scientists can't foresee. Or, in the case of the latest research claim, the Associated Press reported that the work involved disabling a gene that allows HIV to enter cells.
The problem, it further reported, is that people who lack the normal version of that gene have higher risks of dying from flu or falling ill with West Nile virus. Flu kills hundreds of thousands of people a year.
The ethical (and practical) concerns raised by such experiments are complex and far-reaching. For instance, if lifesaving or life-lengthening gene editing becomes more widely available, who will benefit from it? Will it be restricted to the wealthy people who can afford it?
It's hoped that one day, when our knowledge of gene editing and its consequences is deeper, we won't need such restrictions. At one time, in vitro fertilization was criticized as unethical tampering with human destiny. Now it's commonplace.
Cures for seemingly incurable diseases could be next on the list, but when those cures have the potential to affect not just those who are treated, but their descendants in ways we can't foresee, it's important to ensure that scientific advances aren't getting too far ahead of our understanding of how to use them.
Editorial on 11/30/2018