GMWatch mythbuster exposes UK government misinformation on gene editing
By GMWatch Staff,
GMWatch
| 02. 16. 2021
UK farm and environment ministry DEFRA published an “Explainer” document on gene editing as a guide for members of the public who want to respond to the UK government’s consultation on its plan to deregulate gene editing. It may also have been meant to assist the media, as parts of the text also occur in DEFRA’s press release for the launch of the public consultation.
Just over three weeks into the consultation the “Explainer” suddenly seemed to disappear from DEFRA’s website, possibly as a result of complaints.
There is certainly plenty to complain about. The “Explainer” is packed full of false assertions and reads like a “wish list” for the GMO lobby, presenting hypothetical “benefits” of gene editing as fact. The Cabinet Office Consultation Principles stipulate that “Consultations should be informative. Give enough information to ensure that those consulted understand the issues and can give informed responses”. They should “include validated impact assessments of the costs and benefits of the options being considered when possible".
But the information presented in the "Explainer" is extremely biased and only presents one side...
Related Articles
By Tristan Manalac, BioSpace | 04.02.2024
Verve Therapeutics has suspended enrollment in the Phase Ib Heart-1 study evaluating its lead gene editing program VERVE-101 following a serious adverse event, the company announced Tuesday.
A patient, who received a 0.45-mg/kg dose of VERVE-101, developed a grade 3...
By Timnit Gebru and Émile P. Torres, First Monday | 04.14.2024
The stated goal of many organizations in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) is to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI), an imagined system with more intelligence than anything we have ever seen. Without seriously questioning whether such a system can...
By Harold Brubaker, The Philadelphia Inquirer | 04.04.2024
Acompany started by University of Pennsylvania scientist Jim Wilson has received FDA approval to test a form of gene editing in infants for the first time in the United States, the company said Thursday.
The Plymouth Meeting company, iECURE, is...
By Judith Levine, The Intercept | 04.04.2024
WHEN THE ALABAMA Supreme Court ruled that fertilized embryos were “extrauterine children,” it did more than imperil the future of in vitro fertilization in Alabama and, potentially, the U.S. The ruling, on the claimed “wrongful death” of frozen embryos...