Top scientists call for a moratorium on creating ‘CRISPR babies’

A group of 18 leading scientists from seven countries yesterday called for “a global moratorium on all clinical uses of human germline editing,” in which DNA in sperm, eggs, or early human embryos is genetically altered and the changes get passed on to subsequent generations. The moratorium, which the scientists say should be in place for at least five years, comes on the heels of the controversial work by Chinese scientist He Jiankui, who used CRISPR to edit the genomes of twin girls while they were still embryos. CRISPR developers Feng Zhang and Emmanuelle Charpentier are among those urging the moratorium, published in a letter in Nature, but other big names, such as UC Berkeley’s Jennifer Doudna, are conspicuously absent from the author list — pointing to the divide among experts on the wisdom of a such a move. Read more.