The research could allow people to snip away the genes that cause inherited diseases and other problems.

Scientists have genetically engineered a human embryo for the first time in the US.

The technology allows for the editing of genes in a human embryo that could theoretically be allowed to develop into a full person, according to Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) in Portland, which carried out the research.

The research isn't the first time that a human embryo has been genetically engineered. But no experiment ever before has worked on so many embryos, or done so with such safety or efficiency, according to the MIT Technology Review, which first reported the breakthrough.

Some countries have signed a convention prohibiting the practice on concerns it could be used to create so-called designer babies. Scientists are allowed to work on such experiments in Oregon so long as they're not allowed to fully develop and don't use public money.

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