Call to oppose 'human genetic engineering'

The Campaign Against Human Genetic Engineering (CAHGE) held a press conference in London last week, at which organiser David King called for the rallying of 'public and political opposition to human cloning and human germline engineering'.

At the briefing, which was only reported in the Guardian newspaper, King said that CAHGE was not against genetics research or its possible medical benefits. But he added that society had to be alert to the dangers of employment or financial discrimination against people genetically predisposed to disease, to pressure on women to have abortions with greater antenatal screening, and to genetic explanations for social problems.

Both human reproductive cloning and human germline engineering (genetic alteration of the egg, sperm or embryo) are illegal in the UK.