Geneva Statement on Heritable Human Genome Editing: The Need for Course Correction
By Roberto Andorno, Françoise Baylis, Marcy Darnovsky, Donna Dickenson, Hille Haker, Katie Hasson, Leah Lowthorp, et al.,
Trends in Biotechnology
| 01. 31. 2020
Heritable Human Genome Editing: Nearing a Critical Juncture
The impending decision about whether to develop and use heritable human genome modification carries high stakes for our shared future. Deciding to proceed with altering the genes of future children and generations would mean abandoning the restraint urged by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly’s formal endorsement of the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights [1] and required by the laws and regulations of more than 50 nations (F. Baylis et al., in preparation), including 29 that have ratified the Oviedo Convention, a binding international treaty [2]. Policymakers put these prohibitions in place to protect human rights and the fundamental equality of all people; to safeguard the physical, psychological, and social wellbeing of children; and to avert the emergence of a new eugenics.
Despite the persistence of these fundamental and widely shared concerns, a small but vocal group of scientists and bioethicists now endorse moving forward with heritable human genome editingi,ii [3]. They have taken it as their task...
Related Articles
By Editorial Staff, The Lancet | 07.20.2024
Image by DrKontogianniIVF from Wikimedia Commons
Despite major advances in securing sexual and reproductive rights globally, one aspect is continually neglected: infertility. Evolving gender norms and financial precariousness have led to delayed childbearing, which increases infertility in both males and...
By Mesha Maren , Salon | 07.20.2024
By Alcott Wei, South China Morning Post | 07.13.2024
China has banned all clinical research involving germline genome editing under a newly released ethics guideline.
Germline gene engineering relates to altering the DNA in sperm, eggs or early embryos to introduce changes that can be inherited.
“Any clinical research...
By Julia Black and Margaux MacColl, The Information [cites CGS' Katie Hasson] | 07.19.2024
When venture capitalist Jack Abraham first began dating his wife, Gabriella Massamillo, he insisted on one condition: that when they were ready to have children, she’d be willing to conceive using in vitro fertilization. Abraham had lost both his mother...