Experts urge oversight of experiments

Genetics research, conceptual artwork. CHINA DAILY Scientists, researchers say gene editing project was unnecessary, irresponsible The world urgently needs better international oversight of genome editing in human embryos, and to clarify the boundaries for related research, according to an editorial published in the journal Science on Friday. "To maintain the public's trust that someday genome editing will be able to treat or prevent disease, the research community needs to take steps now to demonstrate that this new tool can be applied with competence, integrity and benevolence," the editorial said. These standards should complement existing national regulations from countries around the world, reducing the likelihood that researchers can take advantage of loopholes to "conduct dangerous and unethical experimentations", it added. "We need to build upon the work done at recent international summits and the guidance provided by numerous organizations to achieve broad agreement on specific standards and criteria for human germline genome editing research and clinical applications," the editorial added.