A team of scientists in Guangzhou has used genome editing to create two alleged ‘super beagles’ that build muscle quicker than naturally bred beagles.
This was the first successful instance of genome editing and it was completed without the use of a surrogate mother, according to the South China Morning Post. Details of the trailblazing experiment are published in the latest edition of the Journal of Molecular Cell Biology.
If you are unfamiliar with the term genome editing, it is the process in which an embryo has its DNA manipulated through the use of ‘molecular scissors.’ Once edited the altered embryo is reinserted into the womb. According to reports, this whole process must be done in under half an hour, meaning scientists have to work quickly.
Creating the super dogs took a considerable amount of trial and error, with scientists trying nearly 100 times to grow an altered embryo in a surrogate host, Zou Qingjian, a scientist who participated in the study (and employed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health in southern China), told the South China Morning Post.
“We realized there must be something wrong, and that we should return the embryo to the biological mother,” he stated.
Returning the embryos to the mother was successful and led to the birth of two strong beagles with greater musculature of other canines the same age and breed, according to the South China Morning Post.
Some folks have voiced very legitimate concerns in regards to the ‘super dog’ experiment, most notably that the technology may allow scientists to ‘play God’ and alter unborn humans.
While the scientists involved in this particular experiment have denied any interest in using the technology on humans, another Chinese team claimed in April to have altered human embryos for the first time. According to reports, the edited human embryos, provided by hospitals, were ‘defective.'
It has been pointed out that the technology could be used to help ‘correct’ embryo defects before a child is born with a physical or mental defect. Current DNA technology can detect defects during the early stages of pregnancy, but options then turn to abortion or risk having a child that may have a sever handicap.
[Image via the SCMP]
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