As gene editing tools are refined in labs around the world, they are expected to allow easier, cheaper and more accurate insertion or deletion of genes than ever before.
Crossing this threshold has long been considered dangerously unacceptable for both safety and social reasons. It is prohibited by several international human rights treaties and more than 40 countries. However, the United States does not currently have any legal prohibitions in place. Here are seven reasons why it is time for that to change:
1. Profound health risks to future children. Altering the genomes of our offspring โ not just the first generation but all later ones as wellโ means irreversibly changing every cell in their bodies, forever.
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2. Thin medical justification. Human germline modification is often presented as a way to prevent the transmission of inherited diseases. But in nearly every case, people at risk of passing on genetic diseases can have healthy and genetically related children without manipulating genes by using the embryo screening technique known as preimplantation genetic diagnosis or PGD.
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3. Treating human beings like engineered products. Who has the right to decide the biological future of another human being?
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4. Violating the common heritage of humanity. Our shared humanity is the starting point for every struggle for equality. What happens to the movements for racial, gender, sexuality, and disability justice if we lose our shared evolutionary origin?
