Poll

Poll finds near equal split on question: would you have a designer baby?

Poll-Designer-Baby

A few weeks back I started a poll focusing on whether people would have a designer baby if they could. With nearly 200 responses so far, the results are very mixed (see image). One conclusion from this I think is that we need more information on possible risks versus benefits. Another element here is that …

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Poll: Is sex a form of human genetic modification?

Sex-GM

Is sex a form of genetic modification? A fairly common argument out there is that human decisions about mates and then their actual sexual reproduction are forms of human genetic modification. Sex is also sometimes equated with genetic modification of organisms by a few scientists. What do you think? Are these things equivalent? Similar? Not …

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CRISPR off-target effects important, but not severe challenge, says poll

CRISPRCas9poll

In a poll on CRISPR, respondents so far have predominantly viewed potential off-target effects as a moderate (28%) to substantial (25%) problem. The poll is still running if you are interested in participating. As to the more polar answers, only 20% and 4% answered “minor” or “a non-issue”, respectively, while 14% thought that off-target effects …

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Public polling on human gene editing, moratorium

Hart-Poll

Many of us scientists, ethicists, and legal scholars are working on educational outreach to the public on the potential use of gene editing technologies like CRISPR to genetically modify human beings, but clearly there’s a long way to go and much more to do on this front. By the way, you may find this new …

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