🧬 Preventive: a Startup Creating Gene-Edited Babies

San Francisco startup Preventive aims to protect children from genetic diseases before birth by editing embryos' genomes. The company has already raised $30 million. Investors include OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.

Geneticist Lucas Harrington, founder and CEO of Preventive, says his team is committed to "complete transparency in research" and does not plan to conduct clinical trials on humans until the technology is proven to be completely safe.

He believes that preventive gene editing in human embryos "could be of the most important health technologies of the century."

💩 However, correcting the genes of embryos for reproductive purposes is prohibited in many countries, including the US, Russia, and China.

Chinese scientist He Jiankui, whose experiments resulted in the birth of the first "gene-editd twins" with immunity to HIV, spent three years in prison for this.

According to sources, Preventive is considering foreign jurisdictions—primarily the UAE—to continue research in case of legal challenges in America.

Is genetic engineering of embryos ethical?

❤️ — Ethical and even necessary
🤯 — It should be banned

@hiaimediaen