CRISPR Star Jennifer Doudna Calls for Public Debate on Embryo Editing

August 3, 2017

(San Diego Union-Tribune) – Doudna said she wasn’t cognizant of the ethical issues when she and collaborator Emmanuelle Charpentier began exploring CRISPR. Beyond the call for society to grapple with the ramifications of germline editing, Doudna said, it’s difficult to get more specific, except to exercise general caution.In many cases, genetic defects don’t even need to be repaired if multiple embryos are being generated, she said. These embryos could simply be screened for genetic defects, and a healthy embryo would be chosen. “In my opinion, we still need to respect the recommendations in the (National Academy of Sciences) report published in February that recommended refraining from clinical use of human germline editing until and unless there’s broad societal consensus about the value,” Doudna said.