Stanford law professor Hank Greely, JD, and biochemist Paul Berg, PhD, are two of 20 scientists who have signed a letter in today's issue of Science Express discussing the need to develop guidelines to regulate genome editing tools like the recently discovered Crispr/Cas9. Researchers are particularly concerned that the technology could be used to alter human embryos. From the commentary:
The simplicity of the CRISPR-Cas9 system enables any researcher with knowledge of molecular biology to modify genomes, making feasible many experiments that were previously difficult or impossible to conduct. [...]
We recommend taking immediate steps toward ensuring that the application of genome engineering technology is performed safely and ethically.
We've written a bit here before about the Crispr system, which essentially lets researchers swap one section of DNA for another with high specificity. The potential uses, for both research or therapy, are touted as nearly endless. But, as Greely pointed out in an email to me: "Making babies using genomic engineering right now would be reckless - it would be unknowably risky to the lives of those babies, none of whom consented to the procedure. For me, those safety issues are paramount in human germ line modification, but there are also other issues that have sparked social concern. It would be prudent for science to slow down while society as a whole discusses all the issues - safety and beyond."
The list of others who signed the commentary reads like a veritable who's who of biology and bioethics. It includes Caltech's David Baltimore, PhD; U.C. Berkeley's Michael Botchan, PhD; Harvard's George Church, PhD; and George Q. Daley, MD, PhD; University of Wisconsin bioethicist R. Alta Charo, JD; and Crispr/Cas9 developer Jennifer Doudna, PhD. (Another group of scientists published a similar letter in Nature last Friday.)
The call to action echos one in the 1970s in response to the discovery of the DNA snipping ability of restriction endonucleases, which launched the era of DNA cloning. Berg, who shared the 1980 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for this discovery, organized a historic meeting at Asilomar in 1975 known as the International Congress on Recombinant DNA Molecules to discuss concerns and establish guidelines for the use of the powerful enzymes.
Berg was prescient in an article in Nature in 2008 discussing the Asilomar meeting:
That said, there is a lesson in Asilomar for all of science: the best way to respond to concerns created by emerging knowledge or early-stage technologies is for scientists from publicly-funded institutions to find common cause with the wider public about the best way to regulate -- as early as possible. Once scientists from corporations begin to dominate the research enterprise, it will simply be too late.
Previously: Policing the editor: Stanford scientists devise way to monitor CRISPR effectiveness and The challenge - and opportunity - of regulating new ideas in science and technology
Photo by gabi manashe
