Human Germline Genome Editing: An Assessment.

Abstract

This article assesses human germline genome editing (GGE). It argues that such editing is not inherently unethical, largely because of the fuzzy nature of "The Human Germline Genome" and its constant changes, often caused by humans. It further argues that GGE is unlikely to be very useful, at least in the near term to mid term. Other methods, such as preimplantation genetic testing and somatic cell gene therapy, are likely to be safer and more effective for dealing with avoiding single gene diseases. The main exceptions are rare couples wherein both have the same recessive condition or one has two copies of an allele causing a dominant condition. Although GGE should have advantages in dealing with multigenic or enhancement applications, our genomic knowledge is inadequate to support more than a few such applications for many years.