Snap, Crackle, CRISPR

The globe is in outcry regarding the legal and ethical implications of a Chinese doctor’s experiment on IVF twins, Lulu and Nana. While these twin girls came into the world as healthy as any other baby, it simply cannot be ignored that their DNA was tampered with just 9 months prior. The doctor paired the fathers’s sperm (who was positive for HIV) with the mother’s egg via an IVF procedure, but using CRISPR (a gene editing tool), was able to send in extra protein instructions with the sperm into the egg. These “instructions” directed CRSIPR to edit out the HIV genes in the sperm. Despite these twins being born healthy and lacking the HIV genes (they would have inherited from their father), the controversy is imminent. While CRISPR is widely used, its off-target effect is well-documented, meaning it has a habit of editing the wrong genes. In a clinical setting, this can make for some very bad outcomes. This kind of hereditary gene editing also has implications based around consent and personhood, further fuelling the international uproar regarding this experiment. Interestingly, now, the infamous Chinese doctor is no where to be found. 
Read more here https://www.zdnet.com