2016 AAAS Annual Meeting (February 11-15, 2016)

February 10 - 15, 2016

Global Response to Human Gene Editing

The accuracy and ease of use of the CRISPR-Cas9 mechanism for gene editing generated extensive interest in the scientific and medical communities because of its potential to treat certain genetically inherited diseases. At the same time, it raised concerns about the safety and reliability of the technology, and about the ethical, social, legal, and governance implications of this powerful tool for research and for possible clinical application in human somatic and germline cells. Researchers, government officials, scholars, and citizen groups began calling for public discussions of how to manage the use of this technology across the globe. The U.S. National Academies of Sciences and Medicine, the U.K. Royal Society, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences agreed to convene an international summit in Washington, D.C. in December 2015 to launch international discussion of the science and its implications. In this session, members of the summit’s planning committee describe the structure and content of the summit, provide an overview of the topics discussed, describe what was learned about how various countries are handling these issues, explain what lessons can be drawn and what is happening as a result of the summit, and explore what further discussions and activities are needed to facilitate coordinated international response to CRISPR-Cas9 and future developments in human gene editing.