Human Germline Editing Needs One Message
By Nature Editorial Board,
Nature
| 11. 20. 2019
A year ago this week, geneticist He Jiankui made the shocking announcement of the birth of twin girls in China whose genomes had been edited to prevent HIV infection. Undeterred by the global opprobrium heaped on He, Russia’s Denis Rebrikov told Nature last month about more experiments involving gene editing of human eggs, to help deaf couples give birth to children who would lack the genetic mutation carried by their parents that impairs hearing.
At the same time, every month seems to bring another gene-editing advance. The latest tool, a precision ‘search and replace’ technique called prime editing, was described in Nature last month by David Liu at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and his colleagues (A. V. Anzalone et al. Nature http://doi.org/dczp; 2019). Randall Platt at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Basel called it a “giant leap” towards the goal of making specific changes to the blueprint of life.
The speed of technological advance, coupled with some scientists’ determination to press ahead with editing human germline cells — eggs, sperm and...
Related Articles
GeneWatch UK has prepared a briefing on the genetic modification of nature for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Congress in October 2025
The upcoming Congress claims to be “where the world comes together to set priorities and drive conservation and sustainable development action.” A major concern for those on the outside is that the Congress may advance plans to develop and encourage the use of synthetic biology in nature conservation. This could at first glance sound like...
By Aaron Ginn, The Washington Post | 09.12.2025
Earlier this year, I had dinner in D.C. with Jensen Huang, the president and chief executive of Nvidia. At one point, he said something that struck me: “Why is everyone here so negative?”
He wasn’t referring to the economy...
By Roni Caryn Rabin, The New York Times | 08.25.2025
Scientists have dreamed for centuries about using animal organs to treat ailing humans. In recent years, those efforts have begun to bear fruit: Researchers have begun transplanting the hearts and kidneys of genetically modified pigs into patients, with varying degrees...
The Center for Genetics and Society is delighted to recommend the current edition of GMWatch Review – Number 589. UK-based GMWatch, a long-standing ally, was founded in 1998 by Jonathan Matthews as an independent organization seeking to counter the enormous corporate political power and propaganda of the GMO industry and its supporters. Matthews and Claire Robinson are its directors and managing editors.
CGS works to ensure that social justice, equity, human rights, and democratic governance are front...