“Exclusive: 5 Couples Lined up for CRISPR Babies to Avoid Deafness”, 2019-07-04 (; similar):
Five Russian couples who are deaf want to try the CRISPR gene-editing technique so they can have a biological child who can hear, biologist Denis Rebrikov has told New Scientist. He plans to apply to the relevant Russian authorities for permission in “a couple of weeks”…Both would-be parents in each couple have a recessive form of deafness, meaning that all their children would normally inherit the same condition. While the vast majority of genetic diseases can be prevented by screening IVF embryos before implantation, with no need for gene-editing, this is not an option for these couples. Several reports have suggested that—if it can be done safely—editing the genes of babies might be justified in this kind of situation.
Now Rebrikov has told New Scientist that he also wants to prevent children inheriting a form of deafness caused by mutations in the GJB2 gene. In western Siberia, many people have a missing DNA letter in position 35 of the GJB2 gene. Having one copy has no effect, but those who inherit this mutation from both parents never develop the ability to hear. Rebrikov has found 5 couples in which both would-be parents are deaf because of this mutation and don’t want their children to be deaf too. So he plans to use CRISPR to correct this mutation in IVF embryos from these couples. All these embryos will have the mutation in both copies of the GJB2 gene—correcting one copy using a method known as homology-directed repair will prevent deafness. “Technically, it is achievable”, says Burgio.