The company, Preventive, says its goal is to end hereditary disease by editing human embryos before birth, a claim that has ignited fierce debate over safety, ethics and the specter of designer children, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Preventive, founded earlier this year by gene-editing scientist Lucas Harrington, has raised $30 million and set up headquarters in San Francisco, where it is conducting research on modifying embryos to prevent hereditary disease.
Altman and Armstrong are among the firm’s early investors. But federal law prohibits the Food and Drug Administration from considering applications for human trials involving genetically edited embryos used to start pregnancies.
People familiar with Preventive’s operations told the Journal that the company had explored foreign jurisdictions, including the United Arab Emirates, where embryo editing might be permitted.
Harrington said work outside the US was being considered only because of regulatory restrictions, not to evade oversight.
Manhattan Genomics, co-founded by biotech entrepreneur Cathy Tie, and California-based Bootstrap Bio are also exploring embryo editing.
Critics warn that commercial embryo editing risks crossing into eugenics.
Preventive, founded earlier this year by gene-editing scientist Lucas Harrington, has raised $30 million and set up headquarters in San Francisco, where it is conducting research on modifying embryos to prevent hereditary disease.
Altman and Armstrong are among the firm’s early investors. But federal law prohibits the Food and Drug Administration from considering applications for human trials involving genetically edited embryos used to start pregnancies.
People familiar with Preventive’s operations told the Journal that the company had explored foreign jurisdictions, including the United Arab Emirates, where embryo editing might be permitted.
Harrington said work outside the US was being considered only because of regulatory restrictions, not to evade oversight.
Manhattan Genomics, co-founded by biotech entrepreneur Cathy Tie, and California-based Bootstrap Bio are also exploring embryo editing.
Critics warn that commercial embryo editing risks crossing into eugenics.
