Here’s the latest company planning for gene-edited babies

A West Coast biotech entrepreneur has secured $30 million to form a company, Preventive, dedicated to researching the safety of creating genetically edited babies through heritable genome editing. The company aims to correct harmful mutations or install beneficial genes in embryos to prevent disease. Despite controversy and legal restrictions on gene-editing humans, Preventive is one of three US startups pursuing this technology. While some in the industry see potential health benefits, critics like gene-editing expert Fyodor Urnov caution against moving forward with heritable genome editing, calling it dangerous and misguided. Preventive's founder, Lucas Harrington, believes that if proven safe, this technology could be revolutionary in healthcare.