Table 1.
Summary of Recommendations in Major Group, Organizational, and Government Statements Related to Human Germline Gene Editing
| Arguments |
Organizations |
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Hinxton Group51 | NAS, NAM, CAS, and UK Royal Society International Summit52 | NAS and NAM Committee on Human Gene Editing53 | ASGCT and JSGT54 | ISSCR55 | Baltimore et al.56 | EGE57 | Lanphier et al.58 | ACMG59 | NIH60 | HFEA61 | |
| Basic research should be conducted | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | ||||
| Preclinical research should be conducted | x | x | |||||||||
| There should be a partial or full moratorium on research | x | x | xa | ||||||||
| Diverse stakeholders should be involved in decision making | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | ||
| Clinical use should not proceed currently | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | ||
| Clinical use should proceed only if safety and efficacy issues are resolved | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | |||
| Clinical use should proceed only if society has agreed on bounds | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | ||||
| Clinical use should proceed only if appropriate oversight is in place | x | x | x | x | |||||||
| Clinical use should proceed only if justice and equity concerns are addressed | x | x | x | ||||||||
| Clinical use should proceed only if it is transparent | x | x | |||||||||
| Clinical use should be discouraged worldwide | x | ||||||||||
| Any public policies regulating this area of science should be flexible | x | ||||||||||
Only main, overt arguments made in each statement are marked by an “x.” Thus, the lack of an “x” does not necessarily indicate disagreement. The table includes only major recommendations from each statement rather than background and is not exhaustive. Also, because this table cannot capture every nuance of each statement, whether a statement addresses a particular point is in some cases subjective. Many groups speaking independently have made statements about human germline gene editing and related research. These organizations vary in composition from coalitions of experts to professional societies to government entities or representatives, but the content of many of the reports and recommendations is fairly similar. Most statements agree that basic research should be conducted but that clinical applications should be avoided at least in the short term. Many of the statements outline criteria that must be met before clinical use of human germline gene modification should be considered, including overcoming safety and technological barriers, achieving societal consensus on bounds, putting appropriate and transparent oversight mechanisms in place, and addressing equity concerns. The most significant area of disagreement is with regard to the types of research that should be allowed currently, including whether there should be a partial or full moratorium. Abbreviations are as follows: NAS, US National Academy of Sciences; NAM, US National Academy of Medicine; CAS, Chinese Academy of Sciences; ASGCT, American Society for Gene and Cell Therapy; JSGT, Japan Society of Gene Therapy; ISSCR, International Society for Stem Cell Research; EGE, European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies; ACMG, American College of Medical Genetics; NIH, National Institutes of Health; HFEA, UK Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority.
“NIH will not fund any use of gene-editing technologies in human embryos.”