Designer baby: Genetic makeup of germ cells
Sounds different right!!! but it's one of the most emerging research topics in human genome development. Curious to know what a designer baby is? Let's delve into it!
Genome editing (also called gene editing) is a group of technologies that give scientists the ability to change an organism's DNA. These technologies allow genetic material to be added, removed, or altered at particular locations in the genome.
Human germline engineering offers a promising avenue for editing the human genome within germ cells, such as sperm cells or oocytes, and in the zygote or embryo following fertilization. This process results in heritable changes that are incorporated into every cell in the body of the offspring or individual following embryonic germline engineering. It's worth noting that this approach differs from somatic cell engineering, as it does result in heritable changes. Most human germline editing is currently focused on individual cells and non-viable embryos, which are typically destroyed at a very early stage of development. The potential applications and implications of this technology are vast and warrant careful consideration.
A well-known one is called CRISPR-Cas9, It stands for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and CRISPR-associated protein 9. The scientific community is buzzing about this because it's faster, cheaper, more accurate, and more efficient than other genome editing methods. CRISPR was first identified in the DNA sequences of Escherichia coli bacteria and was described by Ishino et al. from Osaka University back in 1987. It's truly fascinating how this discovery has transformed genetic research!
