21st CENTURY HEADLINES: Sam Altman and husband fund startup to edit babies’ genes.

The OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and his husband are backing a controversial startup exploring the genetic engineering of babies to eliminate hereditary diseases.

Preventive says its goal is to “correct devastating genetic conditions” and that if successful, gene editing could be one of the most important health breakthroughs of the century.

Preventive has raised $30 million from private backers and set up headquarters in San Francisco. It is a public-benefit corporation, meaning it is a for-profit entity legally committed to a public good other than maximising shareholder value.

Altman, his husband Oliver Mulherin and Brian Armstrong, the chief executive of cryptocurrency platform Coinbase, are among the investors.

Gene editing in sperm, eggs or embryos is highly controversial. Opponents say it raises critical ethical questions and its safety has not been proven. Gene editing with the intention of creating a baby is illegal in the US, UK and many countries around the world.

Decades of watching Star Trek lead me to ask, what could possibly go wrong?