Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
As Gene Manipulation Booms, Scientists Wonder, 'How Far Should We Go?'
People in pain write to Jennifer Doudna. They have a congenital illness. Or they have a sick child. Or they carry the gene for Huntington鈥檚 disease or some other dreadful time bomb wired through every cell in their body. They know that Doudna helped invent an extraordinary new gene-editing technology, known as CRISPR. But they don鈥檛 all seek her help. One woman, the mother of a child with Down syndrome, explained: 鈥淚 love my child and wouldn鈥檛 change him. There鈥檚 something about him that鈥檚 so special. He鈥檚 so loving in a way that鈥檚 unique to him. I wouldn鈥檛 change it.鈥 The scientist tears up telling this story. 鈥淚t makes you think hard about what it means to be human, doesn鈥檛 it?鈥 she says. (Achenbach, 5/3)
