Redesigning nature: To be or not to be?

Abstract

The concept of designer babies' is indeed intriguing, wherein offspring characteristics can be modified in the embryonic stage by gene editing. Genome editing has got an immense boost with the advent of the Cas/CRISPR technology that utilizes proteins from a bacterial immune system to remove defective genes and replaces them with a rectified edition. The technique is proving to be successful in fighting a host of genetic diseases, including cancer and has even made headway with HIV. The technology has sparked a revolution in genomics with a storm brewing over its patent rights.