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Least extreme biophysics phd (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 1 day ago by fossilesque@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/science_memes@mander.xyz

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[-] Jhex@lemmy.world 19 points 1 day ago

The devil is in the details....

You are likely thinking (as I am) that he implanted robotic arms on babies but he may have just rubbed sage oil on them for all we know

[-] I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world 17 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

He used CRISPR to make babies immune to HIV.

[-] andros_rex@lemmy.world 25 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

No, he inserted a gene that is associated with resistance to HIV, but is also associated with increased risk of some cancers. He did this without informed consent, he did this without running it by an ethics board, he did this without knowing whether it would work or not.

Let’s stop pretending that he’s a good guy that just magically made HIV immune babies.

Edit: it also didn’t work. The babies have genes both with and without the mutation.

[-] T156@lemmy.world 5 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago)

We also don't know if it was just that gene that was altered, or if there are other effects. Modern gene editing isn't so precise that we can edit just the gene we want. A lot of genes with similar sequences as the target can also be affected.

It's basically like firing a shotgun at the house they live in. You might hit the one you want, but you may also hit other unrelated genes in the process.