WHO panel weighs in on CRISPR-babies debate
19.03.2019
World Health Organization panel weighs in on CRISPR-babies debate
The World Health Organization (WHO) should create a global registry of studies that involve editing the human genome, and research funders and publishers should require scientists to participate in it, a group advising the WHO said on 19 March.
The WHO created panel in December after a scientist in China used the gene-editing tool CRISPR to modify the genomes of twin baby girls. In its statement, the panel also opposed the clinical application of research that alters the genome of human eggs, sperm or embryos — called the germ line — in ways that can be passed to future generations.
“The committee agrees it is irresponsible at this time for anyone to proceed with clinical applications of human germline genome editing,” said Margaret Hamburg, the panel’s co-chair and foreign secretary of the US National Academy of Medicine.
But she emphasized that the WHO panel is not calling for a permanent moratorium on such research. “We are trying to look at the broader picture and a framework for responsible stewardship,” said Hamburg, a former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration. “I don't think a vague moratorium is the answer for what needs to be done.”
The advisory committee, which is developing an international framework to govern the use of gene-editing technologies in people, will issue final recommendations to WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in 18 months.
Hamburg did not offer hints as to whether the WHO is considering ways to create a binding international agreement governing gene editing, or to ensure that governments enforce existing laws. The advisory committee’s charge includes understanding the differences between how countries govern such research, she said: “It’s a daunting task, but it’s the beginning of a process and we don’t really know all the strategies that might be used.”
Here Nature explains Calls for global governance