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In a newly published article in Nature, a group of prominent scientists and ethicists have called for a moratorium on clinical research using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing.
This moratorium deals with the use of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing of the germline — changing heritable DNA in sperm, eggs or embryos to make genetically modified children.
In other words, this would be a temporary ban on experiments that might result in more “CRISPR babies.”
The document was signed and authored by a number of prominent ethicists and scientists, including CRISPR pioneers Emmanuelle Charpentier (one of the co-discovers of the CRISPR/Cas9) and Feng Zhang (one of the first to use CRISPR in human cells), as well as geneticist Eric Lander and bioethicists Françoise Baylis and Jing-Bao Nie.
However, CRISPR researcher Jennifer Doudna (the other co-discoverer of the CRISPR/Cas9 system) refused to sign this call for a moratorium. She told The Washington Post: “My feeling is, this is effectively just rehashing what’s been going on for several years.”
This is a contentious point, as the word moratorium has been used sparsely...