CRISPR babies: A view from the centre of the storm

Abstract

Towards the end of November 2018, news broke that the Chinese researcher He Jiankui had created the world’s first genome-edited babies. This came shortly before the start of the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing, where researchers, ethicists and others concerned with regulation, social issues and public engagement from around the world gathered to discuss the latest advances in the field. In this Spotlight, I provide my perspective on the events that occurred shortly prior to and at the summit, where He Jiankui gave an account of his activities. I also discuss what was wrong with his approach and how, after more research and with appropriate regulation, clinical applications of germline genome editing in humans may be justifiable.