International Reporting Mechanism for Unethical Germline Gene Editing Experiments Is Needed

G Owen Schaefer; Markus K Labude; Yujia Zhu; Roger Sik-Yin Foo; Vicki Xafis

doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2020.10.001

International Reporting Mechanism for Unethical Germline Gene Editing Experiments Is Needed

Trends Biotechnol. 2021 May;39(5):427-430. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2020.10.001. Epub 2020 Nov 4.

Authors

G Owen Schaefer¹, Markus K Labude², Yujia Zhu², Roger Sik-Yin Foo³, Vicki Xafis²

Affiliations

¹ Science, Health, and Policy-Relevant Ethics in Singapore (SHAPES), Centre for Biomedical Ethics, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore. Electronic address: owen_schaefer@nus.edu.sg.
² Science, Health, and Policy-Relevant Ethics in Singapore (SHAPES), Centre for Biomedical Ethics, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
³ Cardiovascular Research Institute, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University Health System, Singapore; Genome Institute of Singapore, A*STAR, Singapore.

PMID: 33160679
DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2020.10.001

Abstract

Recent reporting found that a number of scientists internationally knew about the experiment resulting in the birth of the first gene-edited babies well before the news broke. Because scientists have a responsibility to reveal such activities, an international governance mechanism for reporting unethical gene editing experiments should be established.

Keywords: germline gene editing; governance mechanism; research ethics; scientific misconduct.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Gene Editing* / ethics
Gene Editing* / standards
Germ Cells*
International Cooperation
Research Design*