"Its stated goal is to end genetic disease and alleviate human suffering by fixing harmful mutations at the embryo stage. The company has announced a group of "scientific contributors" that includes a prominent in vitro fertilization doctor, a data scientist who worked for de-extinction company Colossal Biosciences, and two reproductive biologists from a major primate research center. A scientist who pioneered a technique to make embryos using DNA from three people is also involved."
"A scientist who pioneered a technique to make embryos using DNA from three people is also involved. "I like to take on challenges when I see them," says cofounder Cathy Tie, a former Thiel fellow who left college at 18 to start her first company, Ranomics, a genomics screening service. As Tie sees it, that challenge is to make the idea of human embryo editing more acceptable in society."
In 2018, Chinese scientist He Jiankui created the first reported gene-edited babies using Crispr to alter three human embryos in an attempt to confer HIV immunity and initiated pregnancies. The experiment triggered immediate scientific and legal backlash, with critics citing immaturity of the technology and genetic enhancement concerns; He was charged with "illegal medical practices" and served a three-year prison sentence. Manhattan Genomics, a New York startup, now seeks to fix harmful mutations at the embryo stage to end genetic disease. The company has recruited diverse contributors and positions heritable embryo edits as a way to prevent inherited illness, while acknowledging potential off-target risks.
Read at WIRED
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