As various advisory bodies, scientific organizations and funding agencies deliberate on genome editing in humans, Debra J. H. Mathews, Robin Lovell-Badge and colleagues lay out some key points for consideration.
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One small edit for humans, one giant edit for humankind? Points and questions to consider for a responsible way forward for gene editing in humans
European Journal of Human Genetics Open Access 30 November 2017
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R.L.-B. is or has been involved in several groups looking at the issues dealt with in the Hinxton Group statement, in addition to being a member of the Hinxton Group Steering Committee. The most significant of these efforts is one sponsored by the National Academies of Science and Medicine of the USA together with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society. However, none of these involves any personal remuneration, apart from payment of or reimbursement of expenses incurred in attending meetings. He is also a co-opted member of the Scientific and clinical advances advisory committee of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. This is purely an advisory committee; it does not have decision-making functions. He is paid a small honorarium for time actually spent in meetings of this Committee. His full-time employment is at the Francis Crick Institute in London, where he runs a lab carrying out basic research on embryology, stem cells and genetics. He has no direct involvement in any research on genome editing in human embryos or germline cells.
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Mathews, D., Chan, S., Donovan, P. et al. CRISPR: A path through the thicket. Nature 527, 159–161 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/527159a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/527159a
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