Gene-edited babies: The science and ethics of altering DNA before birth

In the summer of 2026, two academic studies revived the debate on embryo gene editing, a technique that consists of manipulating the DNA of a human embryo for reasons ranging from better understanding human development to preventing disease and disabilities. How safe is this practice? Will there soon be gene-edited babies? Is it even ethically correct to modify an embryo?

We discuss these questions with Euronews’ health reporter Marta Iraola Iribarren; Robin Lovell-Badge, head of the laboratory of stem cell biology and developmental genetics at the Francis Crick Institute; Björn Heindryckx, professor at Ghent University and PI coordinating research in the infertility department; and Pascal Borry, professor of bioethics at the University of Leuven.

Host: James Thomas; Author and producer: Alice Carnevali; Sound editor: Johan Breton.

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