With a shock that rippled around the medical research world in 2018, a Chinese researcher unethically and illegally edited the DNA of 3 human embryos, implanted them in their mother’s wombs, who then gave birth. This is referred to as Heritable Human Genome Editing (HHGE) and represents a clear breach of the Belmont Principles of Autonomy (Informed Consent), […]

I’m happy to report Bioethics was at the forefront each day at the International Human Genome Editing Symposium. Controversy and disagreement between panelists as well as the audience was frequent, showing the lack of consensus on the ethics of continuing Heritable Human Gene Editing. The value of this research was questioned outright, especially in light of other successful […]

Contrary to the last International Human Genome Editing Symposium, the focus was Somatic Human Gene Editing (SHGE), wherein the non-reproductive cells of adults/children were utilized to explore cures for diseases. This approach makes changes in the patient’s DNA without causing those changes to be inherited by future offspring. In gene editing, there is always a possibility of […]

In our 2022 year-end report, we briefly discussed an ethical issue directly associated with the recent pandemic, namely Gain of Function (GOF) research. It is vital that we possess understanding of GOF origins and significance. GOF research had been quietly pursued internationally for decades before it was officially named and given public attention. In 2011, […]