Gene-Edited Babies Should Act As Lesson About ‘The Potential For Human Hubris To Overtake Us,’ NIH Director Says
Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, also said the research done by He Jiankui highlights the need for binding, international guidance on gene-editing on humans. Meanwhile, some scientists worry that the intense negative reaction to the gene-editing will have a chilling effect on innovation.
Stat:
NIH Director Says There's Work To Do On Regulating Genome Editing
The apparent birth this month of the first genetically modified babies is “a lesson in the potential for human hubris to overtake us,” Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, told STAT Thursday, but he said there is little U.S. officials can do to influence how China sanctions the rogue scientist who claims to have led the ethically dubious scientific breakthrough. (Facher, 11/29)
The Associated Press:
Fear That Uproar Over Gene-Edited Babies Could Block Science
Scientists working on the frontiers of medicine fear the uproar over the reported births of gene-edited babies in China could jeopardize promising research into how to alter heredity to fend off a variety of disorders. Researchers are rapidly learning how to edit DNA to fight such conditions as Huntington's, Tay-Sachs and hereditary heart disease, conducting legally permissible experiments in lab animals and petri dishes without taking the ultimate step of actually creating babies. Now they worry about a backlash against their work, too. (Neergaard, 11/30)
