The Potential of Designer Babies

An August 22 article in The Economist describes the potential for germline engineering â?? the reproductive technology geared toward editing DNA in human embryos. The technology, known as CRISPR-Cas9 or simply CRISPR, uses RNA to snip unwanted genome from a DNA sequence and edit in good mitochondrial DNA (mDNA). Initially developed for the purposes of preventing diseases and crippling genetic defects, it is inevitable that CRISPR can be used in the future to tailor a childâ??s genetic sequence in the form of complementary modifications not essential to improving the embryoâ??s health.