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The controversial world of gene-edited babies, and some companies’ recent quests to push the technology forward.
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A Chinese scientist, He Jiankui, made a shocking announcement to the world in 2018: He had secretly engineered the birth of the first gene-edited babies. The birth of the twins was seen as reckless and unethical by the scientific community. That’s because, among other things, the CRISPR gene-editing technique Jiankui used was so new. NPR science correspondent Rob Stein has been following the controversial world of gene-editing and human reproduction, including some companies’ recent quests to push gene-editing technology forward.
Read more of Rob Stein’s reporting on the topic here.
Interested in more science news? Let us know at shortwave@npr.org.
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This episode was produced by Rachel Carlson and edited by Rebecca Ramirez. Rob Stein checked the facts. Jimmy Keeley was the audio engineer.
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