Academy hosts germline editing meeting

A roundtable discussion on germline editing in humans was held at Shine Dome in Canberra, including the Minderoo Foundation and the Australian Academy of Science.

The group heard presentations from Australian Academy of Science Fellows on the scientific, medical, legal, social and ethical perspectives of germline editing.

Germline editing involves making changes to the genome of an organism that can then be passed on to offspring.

They heard of the small set of uses where germline editing would have clear therapeutic benefit, as well as numerous examples of where the boundary between genetic treatment and genetic enhancement is becoming increasingly blurred.

With the benefit of this expertise, they then considered the sufficiency of the current policy landscape on germline editing in Australia.

While research involving germline editing is currently banned in Australia, research is continuing overseas which will likely impact Australia. Also, the discussion on germline editing in Australia is likely to be reignited by the policy debate about to commence through the NHMRC on mitochondrial therapy, where the mitochondria of cells are edited to treat diseases.

Different policy options were considered, and they concluded that there is a clear need for leadership in developing science-based frameworks and principle to guide the policy debate on germline editing in Australia and the world.

Australia needs a policy and legal landscape that facilitates science to continue making critical discoveries for human well-being and progress but has the foresight to mitigate both unintended consequences and 'spoiler' events that would render the policy useless.  

It is the role of the AAS to understand the science, understand the potential – whatever the perceived consequences – and enunciate a set a framework and principles that reflect the best knowledge. This will require detailed research and input from across the learned Academies in Australia.

The Australian Academy of Science intends to work with partners in social science and medicine formulate a statement of principles on germline genetic editing.

The meeting was attended by:

Academy Fellows

• Professor John Shine (Academy President)
• Professor Ian Chubb
• Professor Simon Foote
• Professor Ian Frazer
• Dr TJ Higgins
• Professor Anne Kelso
• Professor Patrick Tam
• Professor Bob Williamson.

Other delegates

• Dr Raj Bhula
• Dr Gaetan Burgio
• Dr Sara Howden
• Professor Emma Kowal
• Associate Professor Tamra Lysaght
• Associate Professor Megan Munsie
• Professor Diane Nicol
• Professor Alice Pébay
• Professor John Rasko
• Associate Professor Bernadette RichardsProfessor Julian Savulescu
• Professor Ingrid Winship