Geneticist warns against intervention in the human germline made possible by the CRISPR/Cas 'gene scissors'
CRISPR/Cas9 opens up many possibilities in medicine presenting opportunities and risks. It is hoped that the new method can be used for the genetic treatment of serious diseases, such as AIDS. Scientists could simply cut out a gene modified by disease in the body cells and replace it with a healthy one. Scientists in China and the UK are taking this a step further by conducting research in the laboratory using human embryonic stem cells. This has broken a taboo sparking outrage and debate worldwide. How far should research go? Stefan Mundlos, Director of the Institute for Medical Genetics and Human Genetics at the Charité and Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin, holds a very critical view of interventions in the human germline.