Crispr: is it a good idea to ‘upgrade’ our DNA?

New genome-editing technology has the potential to eliminate genetic disease by making changes to our DNA that will pass down the generations. Such modification is currently banned in the UK but could that be about to change?

Last year Tony Perry made mice that would have been brown-furred grow up white instead. That Perry, a molecular embryologist at the University of Bath, tweaked their coat colour isn't new - scientists have been making so-called knock-out mice, in which certain genes are disabled, since the technique was invented in 1989. It is a long and cumbersome procedure that involves combining pieces of DNA in embryonic stem cells and mouse breeding.

But Perry, who published his study in December, didn't use this method. Instead he used a new genome-editing technology that has been taking the scientific world by storm since it was first developed from the bacterial immune system in 2012, and shown to work in human cells in 2013.

Since the 70s there has been a consensus that human germ-line modification is off bounds

Related: The Guardian view on the latest genetic engineering techniques: we need to talk about this, Professor | Editorial

Some may think it important to use Crispr to make better humans, not just stamp out disease

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