Embryo Donations?

[Fantozzi 4,064]

UKs "Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority" (HFEA) has approved a research application from the Francis Crick Institute, London, to use new "gene editing" techniques on human embryos.

Also BBC doesn't explain it well -  or maybe I don't get it - they're talking about living embryos, don't they?

[krbe 193]

Well, they clearly explain that they're talking about human embryos, that it is the study of the earliest stages of life and then a discussion about babies and fertilisation. Whether or not an embryo is an actual "life" is however the subject of much debate and depends on your religious and philosophical standpoint. It doesn't make any sense to proclaim that an embryo is alive or dead though -- it is not able to "live" in the sense most people consider life. What is certain though, it that these embryos have the possibility to evolve into a predominantly self-sustained life-form -- but it is not enough in itself.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

^ This appears to be an extension of research on stem cells.  Gene editing is quite easily done now thanks to new tools, so some clarity is, perhaps, required.

When is life?  That is a darned good question when it comes to life forms that cannot survive the immediate ambient environment but require a gestation period in specialized circumstances.  Is a fertilized human embryo alive?  I think yes, since it cellular division and specialization occurs according to the DNA blueprint.  And, of course, this also applies to the foetus.

The ethics of such activities is moot for now.  As usual, science and engineering run at least a couple of decades ahead of morals.