The first successful “gene editing” of human embryos to prevent transmission of inherited disease, announced this week, is a landmark in biotechnology. Humanity has gained the power to engineer its own evolution by making genetic changes that will be passed down through future generations.
Most scientists have rightly greeted the achievement, by a US-based team working with colleagues in South Korea and China, as an experimental tour de force. Using new technology called Crispr, the researchers removed a genetic mutation that causes sudden heart failure from dozens of early human embryos with impressive precision and efficiency — and without the “off-target” impact on other genes that many feared would be an unwanted side-effect of gene editing. But much more work will be needed to assess the technique’s safety before anyone plans to implant an edited embryo into a womb.
The project’s success should inspire governments, regulatory authorities and medical academies around the world to prepare more actively for clinical trials leading to genetically engineered babies. On top of thorough safety testing, extensive regulatory and ethical work with maximum public involvement will be needed before this can happen — building on the activities of bodies, such as the Nuffield Council on Bioethics in the UK and American Society of Human Genetics, that are already engaging with the subject.