The article was not clear about what stage in someone’s life the CRISPR treatment can be applied. I would have assumed early in gestation. But this raises questions such as how down syndrome would be detected at that stage. If in vitro is the method, then why not simply filter out down syndrome at that stage?
People are already doing that. But if it can be removed instead then you could increase the viable number of embryos for IVF and decrease how many rounds you have to go through.
Edit: not to mention that sometimes the baby is naturally conceived and then if this issue is found during testing, it means you have to choose whether or not to abort and start over. Being able to use CRISPR at that point reduces abortions.
The article was not clear about what stage in someone’s life the CRISPR treatment can be applied. I would have assumed early in gestation. But this raises questions such as how down syndrome would be detected at that stage. If in vitro is the method, then why not simply filter out down syndrome at that stage?
People are already doing that. But if it can be removed instead then you could increase the viable number of embryos for IVF and decrease how many rounds you have to go through. Edit: not to mention that sometimes the baby is naturally conceived and then if this issue is found during testing, it means you have to choose whether or not to abort and start over. Being able to use CRISPR at that point reduces abortions.