Timeline milestone
Edited babies expose a governance failure
From From Bacterial Defence to Medicine: The CRISPR Gene-Editing Revolution
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Ethics
Edited babies expose a governance failure
Heritable embryo editing without compelling medical justification prompted international condemnation.
Chinese researcher He Jiankui announced the birth of children whose embryos had been edited, without a compelling medical need or acceptable oversight. Because changes made to embryos may be inherited, any unintended effect could extend beyond one patient. The episode drew international condemnation and showed that technical capability can advance faster than the ethical rules, transparency and governance needed to control its use.
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