Different Takes: Outrage About CRISPR-Editing Of Human Babies Is Temporary; Ban U.S. Scientists From This Unethical Practice
Opinion writers express views on producing genetically-modified human babies.
Bloomberg:
Crispr Fears, Designer Baby Outrage Won't Last As Ethics Evolve
It’s too soon to know whether a Chinese researcher who claims to have successfully edited the genomes of newly born twins is telling the truth. But if he is, and if the girls turn out to be healthy and normal, it heralds a significant change in the scientific and ethical status of human gene editing. The outrage might not last long. (Noah Feldman, 11/27)
The New York Times:
Editing Babies? We Need To Learn A Lot More First
Sooner or later it was bound to happen: A rogue scientist in China claims to have edited a gene in two human embryos and implanted them in the mother’s womb, resulting in the birth of genetically altered twin girls. We’re no longer in the realm of science fiction. If true, this hacking of their biological operating instructions, which they will pass on to their children and generations to come, is a dangerous breach of medical ethics and responsible research and must be condemned. (Eric J. Topol, 11/27)
Bloomberg:
Crispr-Edited Baby In China Would Be A Repeat Of Natural Mutation
A Chinese scientist claims to have ushered in the age of genetic enhancement this week, with the announcement that he had tweaked the DNA of two human embryos, now twin girls, endowing at least one of them with resistance to HIV. This kind of thing has always ended badly in movies, but like any advance in medical technology, it could help people and it could do harm.If the claim is true, this is new territory on two fronts. It would be the first time scientists have changed the human germline — the genes that could be passed down for centuries to come. And beyond that, it would be the first time that genetic engineering of any kind has been used for human enhancement rather than to correct a genetic disorder. (Faye Flam, 11/27)
USA Today:
Gene Editing Babies Is An Unethical Procedure. Ban Scientists From US
A Chinese research group claims it has produced a genetically-modified human baby. It was only a matter or time. By doing so, this group — and anyone else who attempts the same — is flouting every ethical guideline and every law that currently applies within the sort of country that could support such research. There’s no good justification for bringing experimental human embryos to term. (Terence Kealey, 11/27)
