We need a temporary moratorium on using gene editing to create babies
By Paul Knoepfler, STAT | 12. 03. 2018
The rationales for human germline editing don’t make much sense to me. They consist of invoking rare or even hypothetical scenarios where CRISPR might serve some purpose that cannot be achieved by already proven and safe embryo screening methods such as pre-implantation genetic diagnosis.
On a cold, drizzly night almost three years ago, I stood inside the nearly deserted Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., I was in town to attend the first International Summit on Human Gene Editing organized by the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine. After a day of intense talks at the meeting, I had gone for a long walk and found myself looking up at Big Abe. A big question was on my mind: Would the organizers of the meeting call for a moratorium on using CRISPR to make gene-edited babies, as I hoped they would?
They didn’t.
When I learned of that decision, my feeling was that someone would report the creation of the first “CRISPR baby” within the next few years. That might happen even with a moratorium, but the odds had just increased substantially.
Since then, there have been similar meetings around the world about human germline gene editing — editing eggs, sperm, and embryos that are then used to make people — along with official reports from committees. None called for a...
Related Articles
Despite the appearance of agreement, scientists are not of the same mind about the ethics and governance of human germline editing. A careful review of public comments and published commentaries in top-tier science journals reveals marked differences in perspective. These...
By Ariana Eunjung Cha, The Washington Post | 12.27.2018
Logan Andreotta had been told she was an ideal candidate for in vitro fertilization. Though unable to get pregnant, the Bowling Green, Ky., woman was just 24 and in terrific health. But three days after she began taking fertility drugs,...
By J. Benjamin Hurlbut, Nature | 01.02.2019
Leaders in the scientific community are urgently seeking to set international standards for producing genetically modified humans. They are reacting to November’s announcement by Chinese scientist He Jiankui, who claims that twin girls have been born carrying gene-editing changes He...
By Ariana Eunjung Cha, The Washington Post | 12.31.2018
Danielle Lloyd, a former Miss Great Britain and celebrity mother of four boys, wants to guarantee that her next baby will be a girl. So, she revealed in a TV interview last year, she’s planning to get pregnant through in...
