BioCentury
ARTICLE | Politics & Policy

NIH refuses to fund gene editing in human embryos

April 30, 2015 1:52 AM UTC

Prompted by a study published last week in the journal Protein & Cell that investigated use of the CRISPR/ Cas9 ( CRISPR-associated protein 9) system to edit a disease-causing gene in non-viable human embryos, NIH released a statement reiterating that it will not fund "any use of gene-editing technologies in human embryos" (see BioCentury Extra, April 23).

NIH outlined three major concerns with manipulating human embryonic DNA: potentially serious and unquantifiable safety issues, the ethical issue of creating genetic alterations that are passed on to subsequent generations without their consent, and a lack of "compelling" medical applications for the technique. ...