Doctors test CRISPR technique on babies, then abort them

The tests were successful, but the doctors aborted the babies, which were concieved via IVF.

Doctors in the U.S. have manipulated the genes in unborn babies for the first time. Following the experiment, which scientists say was successful, the babies were destroyed.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) -- For the first time in the United States, doctors have edited the genes of babies using a technique called CRISPR. The method allows doctors to edit out and replace specific genes in a living organism.

The babies were just days old, following conception, and they were destroyed following the experiment. Similar experiments have already been performed in China.

The experiments were conducted by the Oregon Health & Science University, and the institution announced that a study would be published in a journal soon.

The technique has the potential to eradicate certain genetic conditions. When a baby's genes are edited following conception, the changes are permanent and can be passed down to children.

While CRISPR can be used to eliminate some terrible diseases, it also has the potential to be misused. Doctors researching the technique are also aborting children in the laboratory, even though conception and life is initiated in a test tube, and never a mother's womb. The children are never intended for survival. This is how a society behaves when it does not recognize that life begins at conception.

In addition to the practice of abortion, gene editing also makes it possible for a parent to choose traits for their children. For the first time, designer babies are possible, now that the technology exists to make them.

There is no chance CRISPR will be abandoned as a medical technique for editing genes. It is simple, easy and cheap. Other countries are pursuing the technology and will help their people to avoid some genetic disorders, but at what price, to be paid now and later?