London – Britain has approved the use of “gene editing” techniques to modify human embryos for research purposes, and allow scientists to understand the development of an embryo in its first seven days.
The government’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority on Monday, said it gave the go-head to a team from the Francis Crick Institute in London subject to approval by a research ethics committee.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]“As with all embryos used in research, it is illegal to transfer them to a woman for treatment,” the authority said.
The Francis Crick Institute said it wants to use the research, led by Dr Kathy Niakan, “to understand the genes human embryos need to develop successfully.”
“Dr Niakan’s proposed research is important for understanding how a healthy human embryo develops and will enhance our understanding of IVF success rates, by looking at the very earliest stage of human development – one to seven days,” said Paul Nurse, the institute’s director said. (dpa/NAN)