BIA reacts to the International Commission of Heritable Genome Editing Report

Last week a new important report by an international commission of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the U.K.’s Royal Society said human embryos whose genomes have been edited should not be used to create a pregnancy until it is established that precise genomic changes can be made reliably without introducing undesired changes — a criterion they assess has not yet been met by any genome editing technology.

The Commission set out that if a nation decides that heritable human genome editing (HHGE) is permissible, initial uses should be limited to the prevention of serious monogenic diseases, which result from the mutation of one or both copies of a single gene — for example, cystic fibrosis, thalassemia, sickle cell anemia, and Tay-Sachs disease.

From an industry perspective, this important International Commission report provides the needed expert basis on which nations can base societal discussions about heritable human genome editing.

We are fortunate that the UK is a democratic world leader in the extensive societal dialogue, which the report argues is needed before any country decides whether to permit clinical use of heritable human genome editing. As this debate is likely to be with us in the months and years ahead, the report is required reading for any company or investor interested in the potential use of genome editing technology for human health, in part because it sets out disease areas where initial use may be most valid.   

Here are some links that I have found useful in my understanding of this issue:

Royal Society - Heritable Genome Editing Report 

STAT News

National Academies of Science Engineering Medicine

I’d be interested in hearing members views on this important topic, so do please contact me or my colleague Eric Johnsson.

For more information on Genomics, please follow this link. And for more information on cell and gene therapies, please follow this link.

Best wishes

Steve Bates

 Steve Bates OBE

Steve Bates OBE

Chief Executive Officer

 Eric Johnsson

Eric Johnsson

Policy and Public Affairs Executive, BIA