Midday Roundup: Britain gives green light to gene editing experiment

Rewriting the code. Britain has approved a scientist’s request to edit the human genetic code in an effort to better understand how embryos develop, but critics fear the new technique crosses too many ethical boundaries. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority announced today it has granted a research application to a team led by scientist Kathy Niakan to try to understand the genes that human embryos need to grow successfully, which could potentially help prevent miscarriages. Scientists say gene-editing techniques could one day lead to treatments for conditions like HIV or inherited diseases like muscular dystrophy and sickle cell disease. But critics warn tweaking the genetic code could eventually lead to “designer babies,” whose parents select specific physical characteristics for their children. “This is the first step on a path that scientists have carefully mapped out towards the legalization of (genetically modified) babies,” David King of advocacy group Human Genetics Alert said last month when the British fertility regulator met on the topic.

Desperate for peace. After a bloody weekend in Damascus, Secretary of State John Kerry said diplomacy is needed more than ever to end the violence in Syria. Islamic State (ISIS) is claiming responsibility for a triple bombing that killed at least 50 people in a Shiite neighborhood in Damascus. At peace talks in Geneva, Kerry announced a new diplomatic initiative. “I appeal to both sides to seize the opportunity for serious negotiations, to negotiate in good faith with the goal of making concrete, measurable progress in the days immediately ahead,” Kerry said. The two sides are the government of dictator Bashar al-Assad and the so-called moderate Syrian rebels who want to oust him. Complicating matters, Russia is backing Assad militarily while ISIS sides with the Syrian rebels in wanting to overthrow him.

Improving odds. Independent movie Spotlight, which tells how reporters uncovered the Catholic priest abuse scandal in Boston, won the top honor at the Screen Actor’s Guild Awards on Saturday night. Star Mark Ruffalo praised writer-director Tom McCarthy and co-writer Josh Singer for their purposeful accuracy in penning the journalistic procedural. The two, he said, “took every single opportunity to tell the truth. They didn’t take any cheap way. It was always the truth.” The win propels Spotlight to the front of the pack of nominees for best picture at the Academy Awards, in competition with co-front-runner The Big Short, the story of how financial malfeasance brought on the Great Recession.

Senseless. Two Virginia Tech students accused in the death of a 13-year-old girl appeared in court this morning. Eighteen-year-old David Eisenhauer of Columbia, Md., is charged with the murder and abduction of 13-year-old Nicole Madison Lovell. Her body was found near the Virginia-North Carolina border. Another student, 19-year-old Natalie Marie Keepers of Laurel, Md., is charged with improper disposal of a body and accessory after the fact in the commission of a felony. Police have not said how Lovell was killed or released a motive for the slaying. Her mother told The Washington Post that she often cried to stay home from school. She said girls called her fat and talked about her scars from a liver transplant she had when she was 5. Tammy Weeks said her daughter loved pandas and wanted to be on American Idol when she got older.

Not above the law. A cellphone video of a driver pulling over a police car for speeding shows a type of officer-citizen encounter rarely caught on camera. Claudia Castillo started following a Miami-Dade police car down the highway after the vehicle sped by her. “I was hitting 80, and I could not catch up to him,” Castillo said in the video. She eventually got the officer’s attention, and he pulled over. She confronted him about his speed, and he admitted he was on his way to work, not en route to an emergency. “I apologize, and I’ll be sure to slow down,” said the officer, who has not been identified. Castillo reminded him he needed to set a good example for other drivers. The Miami-Dade Police Department is investigating the incident.

WORLD Radio’s Jim Henry and The Associated Press contributed to this report.