Health editor, BBC News website
Originally published February 1, 2016
UK scientists have been given the go-ahead by the fertility regulator to genetically modify human embryos.
The research will take place at the Francis Crick Institute in London and aims to provide a deeper understanding of the earliest moments of human life.
The experiments will take place in the first seven days after fertilisation and could explain what goes wrong in miscarriage.
It will be illegal for the scientists to implant the embryos into a woman.
Gene editing is the manipulation of our DNA - the blueprint of life.
In a world-first last year, scientists in China announced that they had carried out gene editing in human embryos to correct a gene that causes a blood disorder.
The field is attracting controversy, with some saying that altering the DNA of an embryo is a step too far and opens the door to designer babies.
The entire article is here.
