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- From Stella Raycheva
We look wide-eyed
The mind is out of the bottle – genetically modified people are among us. Two scientists, who appeared a few weeks ago in Shenzhen, China, are the first human genes born with a modified genome, according to Chinese scientist He Zhangwei, who led the scientific experiment. The twins are children of a Chinese family whose one parent is the HIV recipient. They are designed according to an in vitro procedure and are programmed to resist the AIDS virus. The attempt to replace the two mirror genes responsible for the immune response was successful in one of the children. In the latter, there is a mixture that will not give him resistance. This first human experience is possible thanks to the CRISPR / CAS9 Genetic Edge technology.
Genetic engineering is not new. Humanity has been perfecting its tools of intervention in the genome for 40 years. The big step forward in editing human DNA comes from CRISPR – a technology borrowed from a natural defense mechanism of bacteria and archeas. The discovery of bioengineers Jennifer Dudna and Emmanuel Sherpatie from 2012 allows the replacement of genes in a relatively simple and inexpensive way. Using CAS9 protein, scissors are created to cut DNA into a precisely specified RNA nucleotide site.
This new method can become a victory over oncological and innate diseases, lead to the creation of universal vaccines, bring huge benefits to the health and longevity of the human being. But this could be the key to another social order based on genetic inequalities (or equations), this could be the first step in creating a new breed, dividing humanity into two. It depends on us where we will establish the border. The future of the human race lies in the laboratories of China and the United States. And Europe, the source of human knowledge, deals with the past.
From Deutsche Welle (with abbreviations)
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