CRISPR co-inventor responds to claim of first genetically edited babies

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From https://news.berkeley.edu/2018/11/26/doudna-responds-to-claim-of-first-crispr-edited-babies/

Update: CRISPR co-inventor responds to claim of first genetically edited babies

By Public Affairs, UC Berkeley | NOVEMBER 26, 2018

In response to ongoing developments related to claims that the world’s first genetically edited babies have been born in China, Dr. Jennifer Doudna, professor of chemistry and molecular & cell biology at UC Berkeley and co-inventor of CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technology, issued the following updated statement:


Jennifer Doudna

“It is imperative that the scientists responsible for this work fully explain their break from the global consensus that application of CRISPR-Cas9 for human germline editing should not proceed at the present time. It is important for the public to consider the following points:

• The clinical report has not been published in the peer-reviewed scientific literature.

• Because the data have not been peer reviewed, the fidelity of the gene editing process cannot be evaluated.

• The work as described to date reinforces the urgent need to confine the use of gene editing in human embryos to cases where a clear unmet medical need exists, and where no other medical approach is a viable option, as recommended by the National Academy of Sciences.

It is essential that this news not detract from the many important clinical efforts to use CRISPR technology to treat and cure disease in adults and in children. Public and transparent discussion of the many uses of genome editing technology must continue, as is happening over the next three days at the Human Genome Editing Summit in Hong Kong.”

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