So one goal of human germline engineering could be to help the genetically less fortunate share these built-in health advantages. For instance, the risk of heart disease depends in part on the levels of HDL, the good cholesterol. More is clearly better. The same is true in mice, whose biology, scientists love to point out, is not so different from ours. Perhaps resistance to the AIDS virus would also appeal to gene-shopping parents.
Scientists can imagine a way to do that.
Those who are born with two defective copies of a gene called CCR5 can escape HIV infection despite thousands or risky sexual encounters. Of course, there is no reason to stop with disease protection, the visionaries say. One obvious enhancement is extra brain power. They learn faster, remember longer and adapt to changes better than any ordinary mouse. This stuff boosts the cellular switches that help the brain store associations.