Comment by Exotic_Talk_2068 on 15/03/2023 at 14:16 UTC

5 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)

View submission: Ask Anything Wednesday - Biology, Chemistry, Neuroscience, Medicine, Psychology

Will diseases that are caused by defective genes be able to get cured not only with gene-therapy prior to birth like any of mitochondrial disease and will there be cure that make such defects not transferrable to children?

And what is the ethical implications of manipulating genetic structure of individuals and will it affect the necessary diversity of population?

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Comment by Indemnity4 at 17/03/2023 at 03:23 UTC*

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Mitochondrial diseases are being studied with so called 3-parent-IVF. Sperm don't contribute mitrochondria, so no problems from Dad this time, however, the plan is to replace a mothers mitochondrial DNA with that of a third person.

There are basically three types of gene therapy and none apply to an embryo: ex vivo, in vivo, and in situ.

• ex-vivo involves removing some cells from a body, treating them externally, then putting them back.

• in-vivo the gene therapy is administers into a reservoir in your body, such as injecting into the blood or spinal fluid.

• in situ is direct injection into the target organ.

None of those are really suitable for developing embryos, not for a long time.

Ethics of it is still under discussion. It's really far above my pay grade.

One scientists who did modify the genes of human babies is still in prison.