It could be a brave new world.
Texas Sen. John Cornyn sounded the alarm that a biotech startup firm that has raised some $30 million to study diseases in embryos is working on gene-editing techniques for humans at their earliest stages.
Cornyn (R-Texas) demanded assurances that the Department of Health and Human Services is making sure that Preventive PBC, a San Francisco-based company backed by top tech titans, is adhering to government regulation on gene-editing technology.
“All parents want their children to live the healthiest lives possible, but advancing this type of technology would come with grave consequences, intentional or not,” the senator wrote in a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“Some of life’s questions must be left up to our Creator, not Silicon Valley elites.”
A Wall Street Journal profile piece on the startup last month noted that while genetically engineering babies is illegal, Preventive is working towards gene editing embryos to stop hereditary disease.
Preventive has enjoyed the financial backing of tech barons such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.
The startup firm’s stated goal is to prevent “devastating genetic conditions for future children.”
Scientists working on the undertaking contend that modern medicine lacks the ability to cure certain conditions once they advance, and that it is “far easier to correct a smaller number of cells before disease progression.”
But pro-life critics argue that life begins at conception and that the embryo is essentially a human at his or her earliest stage of life.
Underpinning Preventive’s research is CRISPR technology, which enables scientists to precisely modify DNA sequences in living cells.
Cornyn, who is facing a bruising GOP primary race, fretted that use of that type of technology on embryos could usher in an age of eugenics.
“While some will argue that the goal of genetically editing embryos is only to prevent genetic diseases in babies before they are even born, we must also acknowledge the real risk that such a technology will lead to ‘designer children,’” Cornyn warned in the letter.
“Scientific advancement cannot devolve into evil and immoral eugenic practices. Efforts to improve embryos will also lead to the impulse to destroy embryos, human life, who do not possess the full measure of these preferred traits.”
The Lone Star State Republican also underscored that Congress previously restricted federal research funding from flowing to efforts to genetically modify human embryos and that the Food and Drug Administration “cannot review applications for human trials if they involve embryo editing.”
“Our focus is exclusively on laboratory research to evaluate the safety of these technologies, and we are not involved in any application with human patients,” Lucas Harrington, co-founder of Preventive, told The Post in response to questions about Cornyn’s letter and concerns.
“We are in compliance with all applicable regulations. We believe gene correction, if demonstrated to be safe, should be focused on preventing severe disease.”
On its website, Preventive stressed that it won’t bring that gene-editing technology to a clinical human until it has been thoroughly deemed safe.
“We will not compromise safety standards to accelerate timelines,” the website says.
But internal documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal suggest the firm is exploring places where embryo editing is permitted, such as the United Arab Emirates.
So far, there have only been three known children born from edited embryos. They were modified by Chinese scientist, He Jiankui, who was later put in jail for his illegal experimentation. Their identities aren’t known.
Cornyn demanded confirmation from HHS that the department is ensuring “companies in this field are fully complying with the law” and asked for a rundown of the steps the department is taking in that regard.
The Post reached out to HHS for comment.
“Gene therapy technology has the potential to open doors to life-changing and life-saving measures for children and adults otherwise suffering from terrible conditions, like sickle cell disease, neuromuscular diseases, and certain cancers,” the senator stressed in the letter.
“However, these types of therapies must be differentiated from embryonic gene editing.”
