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Parents will have the opportunity to correct the appearance of future children
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
The well-known DNA editor CRISPR is capable of preventing many diseases even before a person is born. But is it possible to use this technology not to get rid of diseases, but for other purposes – for example, to change external data? Probably, scientists will be able to provide such a “service” in the near future.
According to information described in The Independent magazine, a number of specialists from Great Britain have thoroughly studied DNA editing technology. Now they are confident that they will be able to change the external data of future offspring.
Scientists are confident that the uniqueness of CRISPR will help them influence the color of hair and eyes, and even change the height of a future person.
By the way, just a few years ago the British believed that intrauterine genome correction was an unacceptable procedure that did not fit into moral and ethical frameworks. But in recent years, the perception of the situation has changed for the better: such technologies are considered quite acceptable.
Karen Jung, a biological ethicist and Nuffield Council representative, explains: "I believe that any changes made by humans to the structure of DNA have the right to exist only in two cases. Firstly, the changes should not lead to increased discrimination. Secondly, they should not cause stratification within society."
However, one should not expect that the procedure for correcting the appearance of children will become a reality anytime soon. In the scientific world, everything is not so simple: scientists still have a lot of research and testing to do. Even if we take into account that DNA editing technology has been used for several years for intrauterine influence on the development of many serious diseases (for example, autism, defects of various organs, malignant predisposition), the method is not yet used as a permanent clinical procedure.
Let us recall that the technology includes the CRISPR RNA molecule, into which the necessary recognition segment in the genome can be introduced, as well as an area that interacts with the enzyme protein substance Cas9, which “cuts” DNA in the structure of another organism. Thus, RNA sends an enzyme substance to the necessary place, which breaks the DNA molecule. After that, a natural mechanism called non-homologous end joining “glues” the break. At the same time, nucleotide residues can be lost or added. According to this scheme, the genetic information in the cut zone changes, and a mutation occurs in the previously determined section of DNA. Today, many scientific groups use this technology in practice, and its rapid development is truly encouraging.
The scientists' research is described in detail on the pages https://www.independent.co.uk/
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