New era of GE babies only years away

By STEVE CONNOR Herald correspondent

LYONS - A disturbing description of a brave new world filled with designer babies created by scientists with a mission to control human evolution was painted yesterday by one of the leaders of the effort to decode the human genome.

Professor Francis Collins, director of the United States National Human Genome Research Institute, believes that within 30 years there will be pressure on scientists to tinker with the genes of sperm and eggs to create genetically modified human embryos with enhanced traits.

"I find this interesting but somewhat chilling," Collins told the World Life Sciences Forum in Lyons, France. "It implies someone knows what an improvement is and it also implies we could be sure enough about the safety issues to contemplate altering our very biology."

At present, only gene therapy is allowed on "somatic" non-reproductive tissue and Collins supports the existing moratorium on so-called "germline" gene therapy on eggs, sperm and embryos because of safety concerns.

"Perhaps in 20 years we may have learned how to practise gene therapy in the germline that is safe.

"I wouldn't be surprised that if in 30 years of being successful in this business of how to manipulate the germline, that some people will argue that we ought to take charge of our own evolution and we should ... as a species try to improve ourselves."

Genetic enhancement cannot be done safely and predictably at present. Collins said: "The well-heeled couple who decided to do this today to have a child who is going to be a wonderful musician and an artist may find instead that the child grows into a sullen adolescent who smokes marijuana and doesn't talk to them."

But with the full sequence of the human genome expected to be finished within two years, a new era of genetic understanding has begun. "If all goes well, then perhaps the average life span will be extended to something like 90 years which will put great stress on our social and economic system. By 2010 we would have uncovered the hereditary contributions to most of the common diseases and we will have genetic tests for at least a dozen of those."

To counter the possibility of a genetic underclass being created as a result of testing for defective genes, Collins called for legislation to prevent genetic discrimination. "[It] should be in place in 10 years and I hope we won't have to wait that long."

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