CRISPR Book

CRISPR Book

“We’re on the cusp of prospective parents controlling the genetics of their offspring,” — Françoise Baylis

CRISPR is proving controversial in many circles.  Liberals and left academics are increasingly concerned that it could provide a boost to white demographics.

Julie Borg at World.WNG.org writes, Sept. 12,

Technically allowed, ethically wrong

Want a child with blue eyes and a 130 IQ who is a super athlete? Given the pace at which scientists are rushing to edit the human genome, made-to-order babies could exist sooner than we imagine.

Françoise Baylis is a bioethicist at Dalhousie University in Canada explains CRISPR to Halifax Today, July 18,

“It basically allows them to go into cells and change the DNA, which is our genetic code, inside that cell,” explains Baylis. “To put it simply, it’s a copy and paste.”

Baylis recently explained to NPR, Aug. 22, that research on CRISPR (designer babies to the layman), is much further along than anyone could have anticipated.

Scientists Attempt Controversial Experiment To Edit DNA In Human Sperm Using CRISPR

Designer Babies“It doesn’t matter whether you’re manipulating the embryo or you’re manipulating the sperm,” says Françoise Baylis, a bioethicist at Dalhousie University in Canada, who is advising the World Health Organization about gene editing.

“The concern is what kind of world are you creating as you move down the path to start manipulating human genetics. We’re on the cusp of prospective parents controlling the genetics of their offspring,” says Baylis, who wrote the forthcoming book Altered Inheritance: CRISPR and the Ethics of Human Genome Editing.  [Emphasis added]

Baylis’s book is set for release today, September 17, 2019.  From the description:

Jennifer DoudnaWith the advent of CRISPR gene-editing technology, designer babies have become a reality. Françoise Baylis insists that scientists alone cannot decide the terms of this new era in human evolution. Members of the public, with diverse interests and perspectives, must have a role in determining our future as a species.

You can order the book from Google Books.

Update!

Code Breaker, a biography of Jennifer Doudna, co-found of CRISPR technology by Walter Isaacson, was released in 2021.

Note – Isaacson has also written biographies on Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs.

Personal note from the Editor – Code Breaker as well as the Einstein biography are proudly on my shelf right in my personal study where I work up this site each day.

 

Eric

Author Eric

FSU grad, US Navy Veteran. Houston, Texas

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