Three U.S. senators issued a resolution July 15 calling for the development of international ethical standards to govern gene editing research.
The resolution was spearheaded by Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Jack Reed, D-R.I. It is a direct response to the November 2018 announcement from Chinese scientist He Jiankui, PhD, that he had used CRISPR technology to genetically alter two human embryos.
The resolution states the Senate's condemnation of Dr. He's experiment and others like it, based on agreement among the NIH, WHO and other professional health and medical organizations that while gene editing technology has the potential to help develop life-saving treatments, its usage necessitates caution and constant oversight. This oversight must be implemented on a global scale in order to prevent scientists from simply conducting experiments in nations with looser regulations in place.
As such, the senators encourage Secretary of State Michael Pompeo to "work with other nations and international organizations, including the United Nations and the World Health Organization, to forge an international consensus regarding the limits of ethical clinical use of genome-edited human embryos."
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