WITH EMBRYO BASE EDITING, CHINA GETS ANOTHER CRISPR FIRST

from NCER: In a breakthrough first, Chinese scientists have just boldly used CRISPR to edit diseased genes in viable human embryos created through IVF. Because international ethical guidelines for research are not followed in China, they are comfortable with editing IVF embryos so as to affect future generations, referred to as germline gene editing. Any changes, whether beneficial or harmful, would be inherited by future generations, and therefore would not only violate the rights of …

Alberta woman 1st adult in Canada to be ‘cured’ of sickle cell anemia through stem cell transplant

A stem cell first for Canada! An Alberta woman is the first adult in Canada to be cured of sickle cell anemia with the help of a stem cell transplant from her sister. This is a great example of the Ethical use of stem cells !

Carly Stagg · CBC News · 

Revée Agyepong of Edmonton underwent the procedure at Calgary cancer centre with donor cells from sister

An Alberta woman …

Japan to lift ban on growing human organs in animals

Japan has decided to join the US and UK in allowing researchers to implant an animal embryo (a fertilized egg) containing human cells into an animal’s womb and have the animal give birth. The constructive possibilities include growing human organs in animals for transplantation into humans. But they assure us that they will not allow the creation of horrific creatures that “blur the line between humans and other animals”, crossbreeding of created animals or fertilization …

Parenting of the future: Many embryos, each with DNA profile

Are you ready for designer parenting? In the near future, the complete library of  an embryos’ DNA will be analyzed to reveal diseases and personal traits, thereby allowing parents to determine if each is suitable to be allowed to live.  NCER supports a ban on use of genetic editing to produce designer babies.
MALCOLM RITTER,  Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — So you want to have a baby.

Would you like

How the immune system could stymie some CRISPR gene therapies

Nature   NEWS EXPLAINER 08 JANUARY 2018

Researchers hoping to use a gene-editing technique to treat diseases may have to seek alternative enzymes.

The body’s own immune system could thwart some efforts to develop gene therapies based on the trendy genome-editing tool called CRISPR-Cas9, according to a study released on 5th January.
Hopes are high that CRISPR–Cas9 could one day be used in people to correct mutations that cause disease. But the new study, which was …

U.S. doctors plan to treat cancer patients using CRISPR

MIT Technology Review by Emily Mullin January 17, 2018

Gene-edited immune cells could help wipe out deadly tumors.

The first human test in the U.S. involving the gene-editing tool CRISPR could begin at any time and will employ the DNA cutting technique in a bid to battle deadly cancers.

Doctors at the University of Pennsylvania say they will use CRISPR to modify human immune cells so that they become expert cancer killers, according to plans …

After 14 years, California’s stem cell agency finally gets a royalty cheque

BioEdge by Michael Cook | 4 Mar 2018

Fourteen years after Californians voted an overwhelming Yes! to stem cell research, including human embryonic stem cells, and created the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the agency has received its first royalty cheque. The amount? US$190,345.87.

Not even the staff of the controversial CIRM were inclined to boast about the return on investment for Californian tax-payers. Proposition 71, which voters approved in 2004, authorised a $3 …

World’s first human-sheep hybrids pave way for diabetes cure and mass organ transplants

Human-sheep hybrids have been created by scientists for the first time, opening the door to organs being grown inside the farmyard animals for use in transplants or to cure diabetes.

A team at Stanford University successfully grew embryos inside a surrogate for three weeks which had both sheep and human cells.

It is the first stage towards growing an unlimited supply of human organs for transplants and even providing a cure for Type 1 diabetes.…

‘It was incredible’: adult stem cells help paralyzed woman walk again

February 8, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Cutting-edge treatment with adult stem cells helped a paralyzed woman regain feeling in her body and start to walk again.

The Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) released a new video of Laura Dominguez-Tauer, whose story they first told in 2011, showing the progress in her life since receiving ethical adult stem cell treatment.

Dominguez-Tauer was in a car accident when she was 16. It paralyzed her from the neck down. She …

What is CRISPR gene editing, and how does it work?

by Merlin Crossley | 3 Feb 2018

What is CRISPR gene editing, and how does it work?

You’ve probably read stories about new research using the gene editing technique CRISPR, also called CRISPR/Cas9. The scientific world is captivated by this revolutionary technology, since it is easier, cheaper and more efficient than previous strategies for modifying DNA.

The term CRISPR/Cas9 stands for Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats/CRISPR associated protein 9. The names reflect important features …