{"id":430385,"date":"2010-03-14T04:30:15","date_gmt":"2010-03-14T08:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.disinfo.com\/?p=24779"},"modified":"2010-03-14T04:30:15","modified_gmt":"2010-03-14T08:30:15","slug":"genetically-engineered-human-have-already-been-born","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/430385","title":{"rendered":"Genetically-Engineered Human Have Already Been Born"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"KirkHere is another chapter from Russ Kick<\/a>\u2019s classic bite-size Disinformation<\/a> book 50 Things You\u2019re Not Supposed to Know<\/a><\/em>, published in 2003.<\/p>\n

For more on Russ Kick<\/a>, check out his website, The Memory Hole<\/a>.<\/p>\n

_____________________________________<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The earthshaking news<\/a> appeared in the medical journal Human Reproduction<\/em> under the impenetrable headline: \u201cMitochondria in Human Offspring Derived From Ooplasmic Transplantation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The media<\/a> put the story in heavy rotation for one day, then forgot about it. We all forgot about it.<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

But the fact remains that the world is now populated by dozens of children who were genetically
\nengineered. It still sounds like science fiction, yet it\u2019s true.<\/p>\n

In the first known application of germline gene therapy \u2014 in which an individual\u2019s genes are
\nchanged in a way that can be passed to offspring \u2014 doctors at a reproductive facility in New
\nJersey announced in March<\/a> 2001 that nearly 30 healthy babies had been born with DNA from
\nthree people: dad, mom, and a second woman. Fifteen were the product of the fertility clinic, with
\nthe other fifteen or so coming from elsewhere.<\/p>\n

The doctors believe that one cause for failure of women to conceive is that their ova contain old
\nmitochondria (if you don\u2019t remember your high school biology class, mitochondria are the part of
\ncells that provides energy). These sluggish eggs fail to attach to the uterine wall when fertilized.
\nIn order to soup them up, scientists injected them with mitochondria from a younger woman.
\nSince mitochondria contain DNA, the kids have the genetic material of all three parties. The DNA
\nfrom the \u201cother woman\u201d can even be passed down along the female line.<\/p>\n

The big problem is that no one knows what effects this will have on the children or their progeny.
\nIn fact, this substitution of mitochondria hasn\u2019t been studied extensively on animals, never mind
\nHomo sapiens<\/em>. The doctors reported that the kids are healthy, but they neglected to mention something crucial. Although the fertility clinic\u2019s technique resulted in fifteen babies, a total of seventeen fetuses had been created.<\/p>\n

One of them had been aborted, and the other miscarried.<\/p>\n

Why? Both of them had a rare genetic disorder, Turner syndrome, which only strikes females.
\nOrdinarily, just one in 2,500 females is born with this condition, in which one of the X chromosomes is incomplete or totally missing. Yet two out of these seventeen fetuses had developed it.<\/p>\n

If we assume that nine of the fetuses were female (around 50 percent), then two of the nine
\nfemale fetuses had this rare condition. Internal documents from the fertility clinic admit that this
\namazingly high rate might be due to the ooplasmic transfer.<\/p>\n

Even before the revelation about Turner syndrome became known, many experts were appalled
\nthat the technique had been used. A responding article in Human Reproduction said, in a dry
\nunderstatement: \u201cNeither the safety nor efficacy of this method has been adequately
\ninvestigated.\u201d Ruth Deech, chair of Britain\u2019s Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority, told
\nthe BBC: \u201cThere is a risk, not just to the baby, but to future generations which we really can\u2019t
\nassess at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

The number of children who have been born as a result of this technique is unknown. The
\noriginal article gave the number as \u201cnearly thirty,\u201d but this was in early 2001. At that time<\/a>, at least
\ntwo of the mutant children were already one year old.<\/p>\n

Dr. Joseph Cummin, professor emeritus of biology at the University of Western Ontario, says that
\nno further information about these 30 children has appeared in the medical literature or the
\nmedia<\/a>. As far as additional children born with two mommies and a daddy, Cummin says that a
\nreport out of Norway in 2003 indicated that ooplasmic transfer has been used to correct
\nmitochondrial disease. He opines: \u201cIt seems likely that the transplants are going on, but very, very
\nquietly in a regulatory vacuum, perhaps.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reference:<\/strong> Genetically-Engineered Humans. Barritt, Jason A., et al. \u201cMitochondria in Human Offspring Derived From Ooplasmic Transplantation.\u201d Human Reproduction, 16.3 (2001), pp 513-6. \u2022 Email communication from Dr. Joseph Cummins, 4 June 2003. \u2022 \u201cFirst Cases of Human Germline Genetic Modification Announced.\u201d British Medical Journal 322 (12 May 2001), p 1144. \u2022 \u201cGenetically Modified Human Babies?\u201d Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 8 May 2001. \u2022 Hawes, S.M., C. Sapienza, and K. E. Latham. \u201cOoplasmic Donation in Humans: The Potential for Epigenic Modifications.\u201d Human Reproduction 17.4 (2002), 850-2. \u2022 Hill, Amelia. \u201cHorror at \u2018Three Parent Foetus\u2019 Gene Disorders.\u201d Observer<\/em> (London), 20 May 2001.<\/p>\n

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_____________________________________<\/p>\n

Look for more 50 Things You\u2019re Not Supposed to Know<\/a> under the tag \u201c50 Things\u201d<\/a> on disinfo.com.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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