Ethics of genome editing

The advent of new genome editing technologies such as CRISPR/CasX has opened new dimensions of what and how genetic interventions into our world are possible. In this Opinion, the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE) addresses the profound ethical questions raised and revived by them. The Opinion analyses various domains of application, from human health to animal experimentation, from livestock breeding to crop variety, and to gene drives. With its wide view across areas, the Opinion identifies underlying and overarching issues that deserve our concerted attention, among them, the different meanings that ought to be attributed to humanness, naturalness or diversity. It also formulates recommendations, including inclusive societal deliberation of global scope about genome editing, a call for the development of international standards for its ethical and safe use, warnings about narrow conceptualisations of the ethical issues at stake, the establishment of a platform for exchange and debate on heritable human genome editing, and more, also domain-specific, propositions.