'Gene-edited' cells must not be used for pregnancy: scientists

Washington - Human cells or embryos that undergo a process
of gene-editing must not be used to establish a pregnancy, an
international scientific panel said Thursday, urging strict limits
on the controversial research.
The statement by the organizing committee for the
International Summit on Human Gene Editing was issued after
three days of meetings in the US capital to discuss the
promise and dangers of new gene-editing techniques that
make it possible to alter genetic traits and potentially end
certain illnesses.
However, they stopped short of calling for a moratorium on the
inexpensive and highly accurate technology, which is widely
known as CRISPR/Cas9.
Still, the risk of permanently altering human DNA or meddling
with the process of human evolution poses significant ethical
and health concerns, wrote the group which included hundreds
of scientists from 20 countries including Britain, China and the
United States.
"Intensive basic and preclinical research is clearly needed and
should proceed, subject to appropriate legal and ethical rules,"
said the statement.
"It would be irresponsible to proceed with any clinical use of
germline editing" unless safety issues are understood and
"there is broad societal consensus about the appropriateness
of the proposed application," the group added.
"If, in the process of research, early human embryos or
germline cells undergo gene editing, the modified cells should
not be used to establish a pregnancy."
The group warned that if genetic alterations were introduced
into the human population, they "would be difficult to remove
and would not remain within any single community or
country."
They also raised the possibility that "permanent genetic
'enhancements' to subsets of the population could exacerbate
social inequities or be used coercively."
The group called for an ongoing international forum to guide
the research in the coming years.
Ethical concerns about the process have mounted since the
announcement in April by Chinese researchers that they had
modified a defective gene in two non-viable human embryos.
According to Jacob Corn, scientific director of the Innovative
Genomics Initiative, the group's statement was "very
responsible."
The statement "is also forward-thinking enough to recognize
that we may eventually be able to tackle such issues, though it
may take a while."
- AFP