Infertility is a global health problem affecting millions of people of reproductive age. According to WHO data, infertility affects 48 million couples and
professor glenn cohen, who s faculty director at the petrie flom center for health law policy, biotechnology and bioethics at harvard law school. professor, thank you for being with us. what is your reaction to this story was yellow it is certainly a very interesting application of gene editing, as you say, billions of male chicks are slaughtered every year, this prevents them from being slaughtered because they don t come into existence, it will save commercial farming significant money. the will save commercial farming significant money. significant money. the real question significant money. the real question is significant money. the real question is whether - significant money. the real question is whether it - significant money. the real question is whether it uses| question is whether it uses worries and people who are concerned about gene editing. there are certainly lots to talk about. we ll parker for the moment, this is one application for this gene and gender editing,
selecting gametes and also sperm sorting, there is the possibility this will be used elsewhere in the animal world or something in the future potentially for human applications.- potentially for human a- lications. ., ., . potentially for human aulications. ., ., . ., applications. you did touch on ethical issues applications. you did touch on ethical issues earlier - applications. you did touch on ethical issues earlier on, - ethical issues earlier on, critics will say this is humans playing god. what are some of theissues playing god. what are some of the issues here and how do you respond to them? the issues here and how do you respond to them? there are two sets of issues, respond to them? there are two sets of issues, should sets of issues, should emphasise this is not science that has been peer reviewed yet, so we re speaker letting a little bit. there are two kinds of objections people might raise, one is the goal, sex selection, the other is the means by which it is achi
as you say, billions of male chicks are slaughtered every year. this prevents them from being slaughtered because they don t come into existence. it will save commercial farming significant money. the real question is whether it produces worries in people who are concerned about gene editing. there s certainly lots to talk about. we ll park that for the moment, this is one application for this gene and gender editing, if you like, what are some potential other uses for this technology? so, we ve had sex selection and other kinds of reproductive activities, with bulls, for example, we use sperm sorting. there are ways of doing sex selection among human reproduction in terms of selecting gametes and it s possible this technology will be used elsewhere in the animal world or maybe someday in the future potentially for human applications. you did touch on ethical issues