Advanced gene-editing techniques like CRISPR hold great promise for treating or even curing genetic disease in existing patients that need it. But in genetic engineering, it is not just the what, but the when, that matters. Any genetic modifications done at the embryonic stage are considered germ-line modifications, meaning those genetic changes will be incorporated into reproductive cells and will be passed down from generation to generation.
Prominent researchers have called for a voluntary moratorium on using CRISPR technology in human embryos, even for therapeutic purposes, because of the inherent risk to multiple generations. They rightly argue that gene editing in humans should only be attempted in therapeutic cases where any modifications cannot be passed on.
The Catholic Church agrees. In Dignitas Personae, a clear line is drawn between gene therapy that is for a single patient and germ-line modifications that can be inherited. Not only is it unethical to create and manipulate human life in a laboratory, but Dignitas Personae states, in regards to human germ-line modifications, “… it is not morally permissible to act in a way that may cause possible harm to the resulting progeny.”
Unfortunately, the rumors surrounding the use of CRISPR technology to genetically modify human embryos have proven to be true.
Read more here: http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/its-time-to-become-pro-life-3.0/#ixzz3aVCRvXa7
