Scientists Achieve Most Precise Human Embryo DNA Edit to Date

(NewsNation) — Scientists at Columbia University have edited the DNA of human embryos with greater precision than ever before by using a newer gene editing technique called base editing.

The breakthrough could one day allow doctors to repair disease-causing mutations in embryos before birth, but it’s also renewed a long-running ethical debate over “engineered” babies.

According to reporting by The New York Times, the research, led by geneticist Dieter Egli, improves upon a gene-editing tool that became the scientific standard after 2012, called CRISPR. While CRISPR works by cutting out segments of DNA, base editing makes smaller, more precise changes that replace individual genetic letters rather than cutting out entire sections.

A previous experiment led by Egli in 2020 using CRISPR on human embryos ended in disaster, with what he described as “absolutely catastrophic consequences.” In some cases, entire chromosomes were destroyed.