Sarah Norcross, Director of PET, said:
Many different approaches to genome editing have been developed over the years, including different ways to use CRISPR for genome editing. Each approach has its own limitations, and refinements are constantly being made.
All knowledge that can be acquired through research, of problems that can arise when editing the genomes of human embryos, is helpful.
Such knowledge adds to our understanding of basic biology, and also adds to the many considerations that would be involved, if it were ever proposed to edit the genomes of human embryos in a treatment situation.
Besides considering scientific questions of safety and efficacy, there is also a need for thoroughgoing public debate and discussion, before we can consider using genome editing in reproductive contexts.
We need to maintain scientific rigour and ethical rigour, both of which were conspicuously absent when He Jiankui infamously established pregnancies using genome-edited human embryos.
