World’s First Genetically Modified Babies Created In The U.S

[pucca]

http://www.informationnigeria.org/2012/06/worlds-first-genetically-modified-babies-created-in-the-u-s.html

The world’s first geneticallymodified humans have been created, it was revealed last night.

The disclosure that 30 healthy babies were born after a series of experiments in the United States provoked another furious debate about ethics.

So far, two of the babies have been tested and have been found to contain genes from three ‘parents’.

Fifteen of the children were born in the past three years as a result of one experimental programme at the Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science of St Barnabas in New Jersey.

The babies were born to women who had problems conceiving. Extra genes from a female donor were inserted into their eggs before they were fertilised in an attempt to enable them to conceive.

Genetic fingerprint tests on two one-year- old children confirm that they have inherited DNA from three adults –two women and one man.

The fact that the children have inherited the extra genes and incorporated them into their ‘germline’ means that they will, in turn, be able to pass them on to their own offspring.

Altering the human germline – in effect tinkering with the very make-up of our species – is a technique shunned by the vast majority of the world’s scientists.

Geneticists fear that one day this method could be used to create new races of humans with extra, desired characteristics such as strength or high intelligence.

Writing in the journal Human Reproduction, the researchers, led by fertility pioneer Professor Jacques Cohen, say that this ‘is the first case of human germline genetic modification resulting in normal healthy children’.

Some experts severely criticised the experiments. Lord Winston, of the Hammersmith Hospital in West London, told the BBC yesterday: ‘Regarding the treat-ment of the infertile, there is no evidence that this technique is worth doing . . . I am very surprised that it was even carried out at this stage. It would certainly not be allowed in Britain.’

John Smeaton, national director of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, said: ‘One has tremendous sympathy for couples who suffer infertility problems. But this seems to be a further illustration of the fact that the whole process of in vitro fertilisation as a means of conceiving babies leads to babies being regarded as objects on a production line.

‘It is a further and very worrying step down the wrong road for humanity.’ Professor Cohen and his colleagues diagnosed that the women were infertile because they had defects in tiny structures in their egg cells, called mitochondria.

They took eggs from donors and, using a fine needle, sucked some of the internal material – containing ‘healthy’ mitochondria – and injected it into eggs from the women wanting to conceive.

Because mitochondria contain genes, the babies resulting from the treatment have inherited DNA from both women. These genes can now be passed down the germline along the maternal line.

A spokesman for the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), which regulates ‘assisted reproduction’ technology in Britain, said that it would not license the technique here because it involved altering the germline.

Jacques Cohen is regarded as a brilliant but controversial scientist who has pushed the boundaries of assisted reproduction technologies.

He developed a technique which allows infertile men to have their own children, by injecting Fluid DNA straight into the egg in the lab.

Prior to this, only infertile women were able to conceive using IVF. Last year, Professor Cohen said that his expertise would allow him to clone children –a prospect treated with horror by the mainstream scientific community.

‘It would be an afternoon’s work for one of my students,’ he said, adding that he had been approached by ‘at least three’ individuals wishing to create a cloned child, but had turned down their requests.

>>>I wonder how Jehovah is feeling about this?<<<

[Blueyedchanel]

I find this whole thing disturbing.

[trottigy]

I thought every time a baby was born - some genetic manipulation went on. The mixing of the father's genes with the mother's.

I also thought every time I eat food - it too has been modified. Every time a farmer grafted one thing into another - say an orange to a sweeter orange - isn't that genetic manipulation too. That's been going on for thousands of years. Some of the best wines have come from "genetically" manipulated grapes

[Hallett 82]

Genetic manipulation like this is wrong.

Jerry might giggle at the article but he knows the dangers this twisting will do. The governments of the world have slept though the machinations of companies like Monsanto making genetic modifications to food crop plants then claiming copyright to the technology. They buy all available non-GM seed grain, quadruple the price and sell it back to farmers in poor countries like India and Mexico once they have 'modified' it. Their aim is to own Patents on all food.

It is not only the GM nature of the science that is a worry. . . it is the legal mess this will visit on innocent victims.

[trottigy]

http://www.philly.com/philly/health/HealthDay666250_20120702_5_Million__Test_Tube__Babies_Born_to_Date.html?cmpid=138896554

5 Million 'Test Tube' Babies Born to Date

MONDAY, July 2 (HealthDay News) -- About 5 million babies have been born worldwide from assisted reproductive technologies, such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), since the birth of Louise Brown, the world's first "test tube baby" in 1978, newly released figures show.

"Five million babies are a clear demonstration that IVF and ICSI are now an essential part of normalized and standardized clinical therapies for the treatment of infertile couples," said Dr. Anna Veiga, chairman of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology and scientific director of Dexeus University Institute in Barcelona, in a society news release.

However for a Christian we remember how Jehovah feels about this at - Lev 18:20 "And you must not give your emission as semen to the wife of your associate to become unclean by it."

While not under the Law we understand the principle - this is Fornication. And if to your own wife - what of ALL the other embryos that have to be discarded - murdered.

In the New World he fill "satisfy the desires of every living thing". We will look forward to see how

[rbrown1205]

Kind of sounds like Brave New World, and not like Jehovah's new system of things!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_New_World

[ava]

This kind of stuff freaks me out. The power that mankind is gaining is a scary thought.

[bookworm]

I don't know if any of this is true about the babies being GM, but you might find this information interesting:

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/07/03/gmo-foods-false-claims.aspx?e_cid=20120703_DNL_artNew_1

GM foods are not modified in the way Jehovah intended. They are using methods that switch on/off genes with absolutely no knowledge of what the outcome could be. They truly are ruining the earth, and if Jehovah didn't step in there would be no stopping them. I know that we don't need to worry, or freak out about this, because Jehovah WILL step in, but if I didn't know that, I would be more worried about this GMO thing than anything else going on. As it is, I just try to be reasonably careful, and do as much as I can afford to eat healthy and stay away from corn, soy and canola.