A team of scientists from Oregon have performed the first known instance of gene editing on human embryos in the US, according to MIT’s Tech Review . Shoukhrat Mitalipov from Oregon Health and Science University and his team have reportedly corrected defective genes that cause inherited diseases in “a large number of one-cell embryos” using CRISPR . Mitalipov refused to comment on the results of the project, but some of his collaborators already confirmed them to the publication. Up until now, reports about human-related gene editing usually come from outside the US. China, in particular, hasn’t been holding back when it comes to CRISPR experimentation. Scientists from the country were the first to use the technique on human embryos to repair a gene that causes fatal blood disorder. A team of oncologists from Sichuan University also conducted the first CRISPR human trial on a patient suffering from an aggressive form of lung cancer. In the US, Congress blocked clinical trials that involve genetically modifying human embryos. The practice raises a lot of ethical concerns, after all, with critics being especially worried that it could lead to designer babies. The National Academy of Sciences issued a report in early 2017 endorsing human germline modification, though, and that’s exactly what Mitalipov’s group did. Modifying an embryo to eradicate heritable diseases is called “germline engineering, ” because the child born from that embryo will pass on the changes with his or her germ (egg or sperm) cells. We won’t find out if that’s true with Mitalipov’s study, because it was never meant to be a clinical trial. The team didn’t allow the embryos to develop for more than a couple of days, and they were never meant to be implanted into a womb. What we’ve found out, however, is that it’s possible to use CRISPR to edit embryos without causing an error called “mosaicism.” In previous attempts by Chinese scientists, CRISPR caused an editing error wherein the DNA changes they made were only taken up by some, not all, of the cells the embryos developed. The Oregon group managed to avoid that problem by injecting CRISPR segments — DNA segments used to cut out unwanted genes — and sperm cells into the eggs at the same time. It’s unclear what illnesses were involved exactly, but they used sperm donated by subjects with various inheritable diseases. One of the scientists familiar with the study told Tech Review : “It is proof of principle that it can work. They significantly reduced mosaicism. I don’t think it’s the start of clinical trials yet, but it does take it further than anyone has before.” The team’s results are still pending publication, so we’ll likely hear more details about the study in the future. Source: MIT Technology Review
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US scientists have genetically modified human embryos
Chinese Internet tycoon and LeEco founder Jia Yueting’s ambition to challenge the likes of Apple and Tesla looks even more in doubt after $182 million of his assets were frozen by a Shanghai court following unpaid loans. From a report: Jia and LeEco came in for stinging criticism from Chinese media Wednesday, which warned that the Internet streaming company and hardware manufacturer was set to fall into further trouble, with the asset freeze as only the beginning. LeEco’s development “is too big, too quick and too reckless, ” Beijing Business Today wrote. “Developing TV [programs and TV sets], mobile phones, [electric] cars and sports programs all consume too much cash at the same time. Not only can the capital not sustain these developments; fractures are inevitable in areas ranging from human resources, technology and management.” According to the official Xinhua news agency, the Shanghai High People’s Court last week ruled in favor of China Merchants Bank’s application to freeze $182 million in assets belonging to Jia, his wife and three LeEco affiliates. Further reading: LeEco Said To Lay Off Over 80 Percent of US Workforce, LeEco’s CEO Jia Yueting Says Company Overstretched, Now Running Out of Cash, and China’s LeEco Calls Off Its $2 Billion Purchase of TV Maker Vizio. Read more of this story at Slashdot. 
President Trump on Thursday signed a long-delayed executive order on cybersecurity that “makes clear that agency heads will be held accountable for protecting their networks, and calls on government and industry to reduce the threat from automated attacks on the internet, ” reports The Washington Post. From the report: Picking up on themes advanced by the Obama administration, Trump’s order also requires agency heads to use Commerce Department guidelines to manage risk to their systems. It commissions reports to assess the country’s ability to withstand an attack on the electric grid and to spell out the strategic options for deterring adversaries in cyberspace. [Thomas Bossert, Trump’s homeland security adviser] said the order was not, however, prompted by Russia’s targeting of electoral systems last year. In fact, the order is silent on addressing the security of electoral systems or cyber-enabled operations to influence elections, which became a significant area of concern during last year’s presidential campaign. The Department of Homeland Security in January declared election systems “critical infrastructure.” The executive order also does not address offensive cyber operations, which are generally classified. This is an area in which the Trump administration is expected to be more forward-leaning than its predecessor. Nor does it spell out what type of cyberattack would constitute an “act of war” or what response the attack would invite. “We’re not going to draw a red line, ” Bossert said, adding that the White House does not “want to telegraph our punches.” The order places the defense secretary and the head of the intelligence community in charge of protecting “national security” systems that operate classified and military networks. But the secretary of homeland security will continue to be at the center of the national plan for protecting critical infrastructure, such as the electric grid and financial sector. Read more of this story at Slashdot.