Jennifer Doudna invented the revolutionary gene-surgery tool called Crispr-Cas9. It enables scientists to cut out any piece of DNA a scientist wants from fledgling human embryos with ease and precision. For some biologists, this god-like editing suite for the book of life is the most important technology since the gene reader. For others, the most interesting prospect is the ability to make predictable changes to the human gene pool. For Professor Doudna, however, a molecular biologist at the University of California, Berkeley, her technological advance is giving her literal nightmares. In one dream, she was asked to explain the tool to a man sitting in the next room. When she opened the door, this man turned out to be Adolf Hitler, but with the face of a pig. “I want to understand the uses and implications of this amazing technology you have developed,” he said.

Now she is worried about the latest use of the tool, developed by researchers in the UK, who have begun removing individual genes to learn how they make the very earliest human cells tick.

In an interview with The Times, she raised concerns that Britain could allow scientists to set up “factories” churning out embryos for research, or roll back the ban on keeping them alive in the laboratory for longer than two weeks.

In the race for scientific firsts, Professor Doudna thinks the UK could end up crossing some difficult lines. “I myself am struggling with this,” she said. “I’m trying to get my mind around what’s a responsible path forward. I have to admit that I feel personally uncomfortable with the idea that there could eventually be factories pumping out lots of human embryos for the purposes of experimentation. I can’t put my finger on why but it feels like it cheapens something about human life.”

A member of the Oireachtas Committee on abortion doubts whether a major recommendation of the Citizens’ Assembly would pass in a referendum, while a leading member of the Repeal lobby has argued publicly against adopting the same recommendation. In June, the Assembly recommended not only that the Eighth amendment should be repealed in full, but that it should be replaced with a clause that “explicitly authorises the Oireachtas to legislate to address termination of pregnancy,

Speaking at the abortion committee last Wednesday Justice Mary Laffoy, who chaired the Citizens’ Assembly, said the idea of the new clause would be to immunise legislation from Constitutional challenge in the Courts and thereby bring certainty to the law. The clause would also free the Oireachtas to legislate precisely as they wish, without being limited by any implicit Constitutional protections for the unborn.

In effect, this means that the legislature would be made sovereign in matters of abortion law, and not subject to the Courts or the Constitution.

After the meeting, some TDs and senators on the 21-person committee said they now feared voters would reject the referendum, which is due to be held before next summer. A TD who did not wish to be named, for fear of alarming his party, told the Sunday Times he doubted “voters would take that leap of faith after [they rejected] the Oireachtas inquiries referendum” in 2011. He also questioned what the implications would be for the president’s right to refer new legislation to the Supreme Court.

Kate O’Connell, a Fine Gael member of the committee, said she believes Laffoy’s analysis is right, “because if a referendum happens and succeeds, we don’t want a challenge in the courts a few weeks afterwards”. However, she cautioned against drawing a conclusion until other Constitutional experts are heard. Meanwhile, Ailbhe Smyth, convener of the Coalition to Repeal the Eighth Amendment, said her organisation is opposed to inserting a substitute clause in the constitution if article 40.3.3 is repealed. “I can’t see the value or the point of a specific instruction in the constitution to tell the legislature to legislate,” Smyth said.

A referendum on the pro-life amendment will be provisionally scheduled for either May or June 2018, according to a memorandum Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is bringing to Cabinet this week. The dates of numerous referendums will be discussed including the provision protecting mothers in the home and proposals to liberalise divorce laws and remove the offence of blasphemy from the Constitution. Fine Gael TD, Josepha Madigan, said she hoped the abortion referendum would be a standalone poll, rather than one which ran alongside another vote or votes. “It’s such an emotive issue. My personal view is I think it should run alone. It’s so complex and complicated,” she said.

Almost two out of three mothers would prefer to stay at home to raise their children if they could afford it, a new survey has revealed. When asked “If you had the option (and money was no issue) would you prefer to be a stay at home mother?” Sixty-three percent of those surveyed told Amárach Research they would. Laura Erskine of mummypages.ie said the result didn’t surprise her and added: “If the Government were to extend the childcare subsidy to stay-at-home mothers as part of the forthcoming Budget, this would certainly help mums who are returning to work for financial reasons alone.” Catherine Walsh of the Stay at Home Parents Association welcomed the results of the study and called for the Government to extend childcare subsidies to stay-at-home parents. “We would like to see childcare subsidies extended to all parents regardless of what form of childcare they use. All care has a cost. Families who choose to care for their children in the home already face the loss of one salary and unfair taxation due to the policy of tax individualisation. We welcome the results of the study and hope the Government reconsiders the its position of subsidising formal childcare over all other forms, and recognises that parents and families want choice when it comes to childcare.”

A member of the audit committee of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, John S Pittock, has resigned because he did not want to be associated with Minister for Children Katherine Zappone’s stance on abortion. In his resignation letter, he said, “It is a disgrace that the person to whom the Government has bizarrely given responsibility to safeguarding and protecting children, that they should promote the killing of unborn babies”. Speaking to Spirit Radio, Mr Pittock, former Chairman of Deloitte Ireland, said: “I just felt I didn’t want to be associated with her or her views or what she’s trying to promote in any way.”

The resignation was highlighted by Mattie McGrath, TD, at Wednesday’s meeting of the Oireachtas committee on abortion. In a statement released to media, he said the resignation raises very serious questions for Minister Zappone. “Clearly the extreme nature of her views and her bizarre contention that the definition of ‘child’ does not extend to the unborn regardless of its gestational age, is causing problems within the Department. We need clarification and certainty that Minister Zappone’s position on abortion and her readiness to deny fundamental rights to unborn children, despite being the Minister for Children, is not creating a conflict of interest in the operational running of her Department. No State Department should be used as a platform to advance personal ideology. They are there to act in the best interests of all citizens and not simply to give preferential status to one particular point of view,” concluded Deputy McGrath.

Ms Zappone has called for the repeal of the Eighth Amendment and  legislation for a radical abortion regime and said women will not be equal otherwise. Her spokesman said the audit committee had no direct relationship with the Minister, and no function in relation to Government policy or to the views on issues that may be taken by individual Ministers.

Galway East TD Anne Rabbitte said she thinks that pro-life and pro-choice groups should be allowed present their case at the Joint Oireachtas Committee tasked with developing concrete proposals to implement the recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly on abortion. She had been “flooded” with emails about the committee’s work since last Friday, with 1,500 from the anti-abortion side and a smaller number, 86, from the pro-choice side. “I’m not objecting to that. I know it’s a generic email in many cases, but at the same time they represent a lot of people. I do think the advocacy groups should not be excluded,” she said. However, other members objected as they are anxious not to delay the holding of a referendum beyond a hoped for June 2018 date.

Meanwhile, two anti-abortion members of the committee, Independent TD Mattie McGrath and Independent Senator Ronan Mullen, have claimed the committee’s witness list is imbalanced.

The Chief Executive of Ceist has waned that the number of Catholic Secondary schools is declining with some areas already devoid of a Catholic option for parents who wish to choose it for their children. Dr Marie Griffin was speaking at the ‘Looking Forward: A public conversation on the future of Catholic Schools in Ireland’, conference at the Notre Dame – Newman Centre, University Church, St Stephen’s Green, Dublin. The chief executive of Ceist which manages 107 Catholic secondary schools, noted that 78% of people identified as Catholic in the last census and, when it came to schools, “parents are still choosing the Catholic option where there is a choice.” There was “a need to retain Catholic second level schools as an option for parents”, she said, but there were none in Leitrim and many parts of Cork. She added “I can see Catholic secondary schools disappearing from the pitch.”

Seamus Mulconry, General Secretary of the Catholic Primary School Management Association (CPSMA), said that where migrant children were concerned Catholic schools played “a massive role in integration.” He expressed “total surprise at commentary that Catholic schools are not inclusive. The reality is very different.” In a discussion afterwards, Dr Anne Looney, executive Dean of DCU’s Institute of Education, said she believed “the term ‘baptism barrier’ is extremely offensive for Catholics and shouldn’t be used.” Mr Mulconry said that in all of last year the CPSMA received few queries about the need for baptismal certificates when it came to school admissions.

State-run primary schools will no longer provide sacramental preparation classes for Catholic students during the school day under new changes, with faith formation as a whole being phased out. This is irrespective of the wishes of parents. The move means it will be up to parishes and parents in these schools to organise sacramental preparation outside normal school hours. The move affects 12 community national schools across the State under the patronage of local Education and Training Boards with almost 4,000 students. They were originally established ten years ago as multi-denominational schools which allowed for religious instruction and sacramental preparation for Catholics. The Church at the time warned that provision of faith formation for Catholic pupils was a “minimum non-negotiable requirement” for its support for the new school model.