By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - General - CRISPR Gene editing used to remove extra chromosome that causes Down Syndrome

curl-6 on 06 July 2025
LurkerJ said:

Just get proper prenatal healthcare and abort the fetus. I'm not even being mean or edgy. Healthy adults are struggling to get proper healthcare everywhere in this world, even when they're healthy enough to advocate for themselves. Do we really think someone with Down syndrome Is going to be just okay in a world like this? Health inequality is real, and patients with Down syndrome are most susceptible to it.

Abort early and focus on improving the lives of the living.

Yeah if I knew I was going to have a baby with Downs, I would honestly terminate. Then again, I don't plan of having kids anyway cos I have a different hereditary condition. (Autism)

Here in Australia, and in the UK, 90% of diagnosed Downs pregnancies are terminated. In Iceland, the number is near 100%, and in Denmark it's 98%.



Around the Network
Cyran on 07 July 2025

My understanding direct removing of chromosome would need to be done in fetus but CRISPR can (and is) being used in adult for turning things on and maybe off in our dna. For example CRISPR is currently approved for treating Sickle Cell by turning back on the production of Fetal hemoglobin in adults. The results while not curing Sickle Cell appears to eliminate many of the negative symptoms of having Sickle Cell disease on those who received the treatment.

If people interested in learning more about CRISPR I found this interview with Dr. Doudna (she won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for her work in gene editing so one of the leading expects in the world on CRISPR) very insightful.

Last edited by Cyran - on 07 July 2025

EnricoPallazzo on 07 July 2025
curl-6 said:
LurkerJ said:

Just get proper prenatal healthcare and abort the fetus. I'm not even being mean or edgy. Healthy adults are struggling to get proper healthcare everywhere in this world, even when they're healthy enough to advocate for themselves. Do we really think someone with Down syndrome Is going to be just okay in a world like this? Health inequality is real, and patients with Down syndrome are most susceptible to it.

Abort early and focus on improving the lives of the living.

Yeah if I knew I was going to have a baby with Downs, I would honestly terminate. Then again, I don't plan of having kids anyway cos I have a different hereditary condition. (Autism)

Here in Australia, and in the UK, 90% of diagnosed Downs pregnancies are terminated. In Iceland, the number is near 100%, and in Denmark it's 98%.

Kind of off topic, but me and my wife were chatting recently about this. We wonder if one of the reasons why autism is on the rise (apart from correct diagnostics that dint exist in the past and etc) is that a lot of autistic people, because of technology and where they work, end up marrying with other autistic people, giving offpring to more autistic people. Its crazy the amount of kids in the spectrum in Cambridge for example, and I bet a lot of tech and lab people here are autistic even if not dignosed yet.

I have an autistic cousin, light autism, married with a moderate autistic husband. Their kids are both autistic, one clearly more than the other. I also know a lot of cases where the father/mother which is autistic had a kid that is autistic. It seems the genectic component is really strong, especially if you marry another person in the spectrum.



curl-6 on 07 July 2025
EnricoPallazzo said:
curl-6 said:

Yeah if I knew I was going to have a baby with Downs, I would honestly terminate. Then again, I don't plan of having kids anyway cos I have a different hereditary condition. (Autism)

Here in Australia, and in the UK, 90% of diagnosed Downs pregnancies are terminated. In Iceland, the number is near 100%, and in Denmark it's 98%.

Kind of off topic, but me and my wife were chatting recently about this. We wonder if one of the reasons why autism is on the rise (apart from correct diagnostics that dint exist in the past and etc) is that a lot of autistic people, because of technology and where they work, end up marrying with other autistic people, giving offpring to more autistic people. Its crazy the amount of kids in the spectrum in Cambridge for example, and I bet a lot of tech and lab people here are autistic even if not dignosed yet.

I have an autistic cousin, light autism, married with a moderate autistic husband. Their kids are both autistic, one clearly more than the other. I also know a lot of cases where the father/mother which is autistic had a kid that is autistic. It seems the genectic component is really strong, especially if you marry another person in the spectrum.

Yeah it has a strong genetic component; in my family it comes from my Grandpa; he's classic undiagnosed Asperger's. Of his 7 kids two are clearly Aspie (never diagnosed, but its obvious if you know what to look for) while the rest including my Mum all have some traits even if it's not full-fledged.

My grandma also has a lot of anxiety which was passed on to my mum and then to me.