Scientists might be allowed to make genetically modify humans, changing DNA to avoid diseases.

Scientists want to be able to genetically engineer humans so that they don't get diseases. That is the conclusion of a new report from two of the world's most elite scientific institutions, which calls for people to be allowed to make modifications to inherited human DNA so that diseases are edited out or treatments are edited in. Such controversial changes could allow scientists to stop diseases from being passed on to future generations. Gene editing, which effectively allows the precise "cutting and pasting" of DNA, is already used in basic research and clinical studies that involve non-heritable "somatic" cells. continue