March 18, 2021.
Because it is associated with human reproduction, human heritable gene editing can evoke spiritual, religious, or deeply personal issues for many. A review in Cell provides an overview of the current status of human gene editing along with a nice summary of the ethical considerations. The authors review the principals of beneficence (therapeutic benefit), non-maleficence (safety risks), autonomy (reproductive rights of parents vs. lack of offspring’s ability to consent) and justice (unequal access to technology).
For more information, see:
Turocy, J. et al. (2021) Heritable human genome editing: Research progress, ethical considerations, and hurdles to clinical practice. Cell 184: 1561-1574. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2021.02.036
Keywords: CRISPR, Germline, Ethics
Questions? Email: crispr@amsterdamumc.nl