A team of scientists in Portland, Oregon have become the first in the US to create a genetically-modified human embryo - "many tens" of them, in fact.

The report in the MIT Technology Review says Dr. Shoukhrat Mitalipov of Oregon Health and Science University led the team using the technique called "CRISPR-9" which enables scientists to snip out any fragments of DNA they wish by programming an enzyme that acts as a sort of scissors.  They reportedly used sperm from men carrying genetic disease to create "a large number of one-cell embryos" which were then successfully edited - or "CRIPSR'd" - to remove the gene genetic material.  The team did this without accidentally removing desirable genes, or getting only partial results.

The embryos were not and were never intended to be implanted into the female womb.  They were kept active only for a couple of days.  

This development sets off about a million red alerts, as the CRISPR technique is extremely controversial.  Some US officials believe it is a national security threat, because other countries might use it to farm bigger, better soldiers.  China experimented with it in 2015 and 2016, giving results it doesn't want to talk about.  However, China did create viable human embryos earlier this year.

Ethicists worry about a Gattaca-like future in which the wealthy edit problems out of their bloodlines, leaving the rest of humanity at a permanent genetic disadvantage.

Before that happens, however, ownership of the CRISPR technique needs to be sorted out, at least in the US.  The University of California at Berkeley and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard are currently going at it in court.