In 2017 George Gaskell and colleagues reported on the views of the public in 10 European countries and the US on the uses of gene editing. Across all the countries support was consistently greater for treatment than enhancement and for intervention on adults than pre-natals. It was suggested that it was time to set up a multinational institutional structure to guide innovative technological applications that are societally contentious.
Organised by Royal Society, the UK Academy of Medical Sciences, the US National Academies of Sciences and Medicine and The World Academy of Sciences, the 3rd International Summit on Human Genome Editing is scheduled for 6-8 March 2023 at the Francis Crick Institute in London. The summit will debate somatic and germline human genome editing, developments in clinical trials, genome editing tools, and the social and ethical implications of such developments. A ‘Cut+Paste’ exhibition will introduce applications of gene editing to the public and invite visitors to have their say about precision breeding of crops and animals, and a range of possible therapeutic applications.
Gaskell et al. (2017) Public views on gene editing and its uses. Nature Biotechnology 35: 11, 1021-23.
