The edit in the case of this baby boy was aimed at the liver. It can only pass to future generations if it gets into his (eventually) sperm forming cells, AND gets into a sperm that fertilizes an egg and becomes a baby. This is a key difference between "somatic" (body) gene editing and "germ line" (reproductive tissue) editing. For most people who follow this area, that distinction is quite important (although the one generation "enhancement" issues you point out could happen with somatic editing...if we had any idea what edits to make or how to get them (most likely) into brain neurons...which we don't.)
Fair enough Hank; that point was oriented generally toward the unknowns involved with gene editing and not this particular brand of (somatic) editing, where as you say the risk is low. It would be like somatically editing someone genes for Cardinal fandom -- a welcome change, but where will it go?
The edit in the case of this baby boy was aimed at the liver. It can only pass to future generations if it gets into his (eventually) sperm forming cells, AND gets into a sperm that fertilizes an egg and becomes a baby. This is a key difference between "somatic" (body) gene editing and "germ line" (reproductive tissue) editing. For most people who follow this area, that distinction is quite important (although the one generation "enhancement" issues you point out could happen with somatic editing...if we had any idea what edits to make or how to get them (most likely) into brain neurons...which we don't.)
Fair enough Hank; that point was oriented generally toward the unknowns involved with gene editing and not this particular brand of (somatic) editing, where as you say the risk is low. It would be like somatically editing someone genes for Cardinal fandom -- a welcome change, but where will it go?
Thanks as always for reading.