A team of South Korean and U.S. scientists has successfully edited the DNA in human embryos to correct a genetic defect causing incurable diseases.

The Ministry of Science and ICT said on Thursday that the researchers from the Institute for Basic Science(IBS) and Oregon Health and Science University(OHSU) used a new gene-editing technique and succeeded in correcting the mutated gene in human embryos which causes the heart disorder called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

The team used the powerful gene-editing tool known as CRISPR-Cas9.

The technique, if commercialized after clinical tests, is expected to help prevent many genetic diseases by correcting disease-causing mutation at the stage of artificial insemination.

The findings were published in the Wednesday edition of the science journal Nature.