CAJ #10: Modified Sperm Technology

Hey Everyone,

I’ve just read this new article on yet another technique that could lead to, according to the UK’s leading fertility doctor, Lord Winston, THE breakthrough in genetics medicine! I don’t know how you guys see this, but it seems to me that scientists and doctors never cease to search for new developments to scare/ surprise us. This new method involves inserting new genetic material into sperm to replace defective genes. With this new technique, developed by Dr. Winston and his team, it could be possible to create healthy babies without manipulating the embryos at all. Artificial fertilization would be needed. This might lead to making reproductive technologies seem less frightening since embryos could stay the way they are. But where can these healthy genes be taken from? Dr. Winston and his team are currently working on creating modified pigs whose organs could be transferred into humans without causing any medical problems. In 2012, the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology already published a research report showing that introducing new genetic material via a viral vector into the sperm of mice leads to the presence and activity of those “designer sperm” genes in the resulting embryos. Who comes up with these discoveries, right? Well, this guy here:

This is what he had to say about this futuristic technique:

“Artificial insemination is an easy way to get something pregnant. You just modify the sperm beforehand. The idea we had was not using embryos at all. We’ve always been interested in trying to make transplant organs from the pig which would not be recognised by the human immune system. It’s a step forward in genetic research which is really interesting because if you can modify large animals and you don’t need to use IVF then obviously the biggest large animals, clearly, is ourselves."

He does also acknowledge the risk of working towards an era of eugenics, but he states that every technology has its advantages and downsides and that people should not misuse it.

“You could easily see how this kind of thing could be used in North Korea for example. I don’t think it’s very likely it will be used in the UK in a mischievous way but I’ve no doubt that given the burgeoning market, given the desperation of people who want to enhance their children in all sorts of ways, humans might be tempted to use this and that therefore it does become a form of eugenics. I’m not trying to make an exaggerated claim for what we have done at all but I think the reproductive technologies are being misused in my view. This is far more likely to be a serious threat than cloning. Cloning seems a useless technology.”

This innovative, yet still highly experimental technique could pave the way for a new development in genetics and for more diseases to be effectively cured–if it someday proves to be successful in humans.