UK scientists have urged for permission to edit the genomes of human embryos. The request could result into the world's first approval of such study by a national regulatory body.

On September 18, Kathy Niakan, a researcher affiliated with the Francis Crick Institute, London's new £700-million biomedical-research centre, said that she has proposed to use gene editing to bring out the 'fundamental insights into early human development'.

Crick released a statement in which Niakan said that her team is willing to use technology based on the CRISPR/Cas9 system, a recently developed technique for accurately editing genomes that has become very popular in the biology community. The Guardian newspaper first reported her application.

In the UK, editing the genomes of human embryos for a therapeutic use, for say to get rid of a genetic disease is banned, but study work is possible under license from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA).

The body regulates fertility treatment and embryo research, and claimed that it has received its first application for a gene-editing license using CRISPR/Cas9. The HFEA said that it will be considered in due course.

In April 2015, Nature disclosed that a Chinese team for the first time ever reported using the CRISPR/Cas9 technique for editing the genomes of human embryos. The work was headed by Junjiu Huang, a gene-function researcher at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou. It involved trials to modify the gene underlying the blood disorder ß-thalassaemia.

During the research, non-viable embryos were used that could not lead to a live birth, but nonetheless resulted into huge controversy.