Biopolitics

The Center for Genetics and Society uses the term “biopolitics” to refer to public understanding, public policies, and public-interest advocacy about the social meanings and consequences of human biotechnologies. Biopolitics recognizes the need for public and political engagement on consequential applications of biotechnologies, such as heritable genome editing. Biopolitical views are not always aligned with political positioning on other issues, especially in the U.S. Public interest advocates working in a biopolitical framework emphasize the importance of prioritizing social justice when evaluating technological innovations.

Assessing the Global Policy Landscape for Human Germline and Heritable Genome Editing

By Katie Hasson | 11.02.2020

Biopolitical Times

Public and policy conversations about heritable human genome editing often leave the impression that rules governing it are few and far between. Many news reports and scholarly articles present global governance as starting from a more or less blank slate; some also suggest that global agreement on this controversial issue would be unlikely. This view skims over some inconvenient facts, like the existence of the Oviedo Convention, a binding international treaty signed by 29 European countries, which prohibits heritable...

Policies

Genome-Edited Babies: The Latest Report and Reactions to It

By Pete Shanks | 09.09.2020

Biopolitical Times

On September 3rd, Heritable Human Genome Editing was published. This Report was the work of a multinational Commission organized by the U.S. National Academies of Sciences and Medicine and the U.K. Royal Society. Its explicit conclusion, as described in the press release, is two-fold: first, that heritable genome editing is not yet safe or effective enough for human application; second, that the first clinical uses of it should be restricted to serious diseases caused by a single aberrant...

Human Genetic Modification