The article entitled, “Correction of a pathogenic gene mutation in human embryos,” seeks to answer how a disease-causing gene mutation in human embryos can be corrected using specific methods of genetic engineering. Using a gene-editing technique known as CRISPR, the scientists were able to remove a dangerous mutation—called the MYBPC3 mutation—that causes Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a type of heart disease, and create mutation-free zygotes. The researchers used 75 zygotes in which the father had a mutation on the MYBPC3 gene, while the eggs used in the experiment lacked that mutation. What stood out in this experiment was that the zygotes replaced the harmful gene with a healthy gene from the mother, rather than using the healthy DNA template introduced by the scientists.
Ma, Hong. (2017). Correction of a pathogenic gene mutation in human embryos. Nature, pp. 413-419. < https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v548/n7668/pdf/nature23305.pdf >
