Daily briefing: Human embryo genomes precisely altered

You have full access to this article via your institution. Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here . Researchers say they have used a precise genome-editing technique called base editing to alter the genome of human embryos — prompting praise and censure from scientists. Some say the new work is an impressive step towards being able to fix disease-causing mutations in embryos. Others worry the technology could be used to create ‘designer babies’. But it’s premature and risky to attempt this, says developmental cell biologist Dieter Egli, who co-authored the new study, because base editing can damage embryos. In its current form, “you can’t use it. It’s as clear as day and night,” he says. Nature | 7 min read Reference: bioRxiv preprint (not peer reviewed) Several diabetes experts were thrown out of the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) as they handed out copies of an editorial critical of the Trump administration’s science policies. Among them were the editor in chief of the organization's flagship journal, which published the editorial, and other physicians and researchers. “They physically grabbed us, forced us out of the conference center, and now are telling us we can no longer attend this meeting,” said Aaron Kelly, a professor of paediatrics. “It really has come to this in America.” The ADA said in a statement that it is obliged to “maintain a strictly nonpartisan environment”. …