The Francis Crick Institute, based in the U.K., has had a research application for genetically modifying human embryos approved by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
Considered a landmark decision, the approval of the Institute’s application will be the first time germ-line editing, a controversial practice, has been formally approved of in the world.
The research will examine how a healthy human embryo develops, and will study it for the first seven days of its life. Knowledge gleaned from the research may aid the care of embryos produced by in vitro fertilization (IVF).
