To date, no attempts have been made to predict the consequences of altering specific variants associated with polygenic diseases. In this Analysis, we show that polygenic genome editing could theoretically yield extreme reductions in disease susceptibility. For example, editing a relatively small number of genomic variants could make a substantial difference to an individual’s risk of developing coronary artery disease, Alzheimer’s disease, major depressive disorder, diabetes and schizophrenia.
Although heritable polygenic editing (HPE) is still speculative, we completed calculations to discuss the underlying ethical issues. Our modelling demonstrates how the putatively positive consequences of gene editing at an individual level may deepen health inequalities. …
The prospect of HPE raises profound ethical challenges. One significant concern is that HPE will lead to renewed interest in eugenics3. The eugenics movement arose in Victorian Britain aiming to ‘improve’ the gene pool of future generations, essentially by advocating government policies that would lead to people such as those in the movement leaving more offspring31. This kind of eugenics has been termed ‘positive eugenics’. Other countries adopted ‘negative eugenics’ policies, which imposed severe, unethical restrictions on peoples’ individual liberties (for example, forced sterilization) to prevent those considered to have ‘undesirable’ genes from reproducing.
