Genome editing: an ethical review
Report
Published 30/09/2016
Background and method of working
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics commissioned a background paper on genome editing in late 2014, and held a scoping workshop on ethical and regulatory challenges in genome editing in April 2015.
The Working Group on Genome Editing was established in September 2015. The Working Group met five times over a period of 10 months. In March 2016, Sciencewise and the Nuffield Council on Bioethics also co-hosted a workshop on genome editing and public dialogue.
In addition to in-house research, the Working Group held an open call for evidence, and a series of fact-finding meetings and research interviews with external stakeholders and invited experts to further inform its deliberations. Further details of each of these aspects of the working group’s work are given below and in Appendix 2 of the review. The Council would like to express its gratitude to all those involved for the valuable contribution they made to the project.
Call for evidence
The working group launched an open call for evidence in November 2015, which ran until February 2016. 54 responses were received, of which 15 were submitted by individuals and 39 on behalf of organisations.
Responses to the call for evidence
Anonymous
Individuals
- Angel Petropanagos, Dalhousie University and Carlos Mariscal, Dalhousie University & University of Nevada, Reno
- Dr Calum MacKellar
- Carolyn Riley Chapman, PhD
- Professor David Albert Jones
- Donald Bruce
- Dr Helen O’Neill PhD
- Mr Julian Hitchcock
- Dr Nikki Osborne
- Paul Knoepfler
- Roshni Namboodiry
- Rupert Read, Philosophy Dept., University of East Anglia
Organisations
- Academy of Medical Sciences
- Agricultural Biotechnology Council
- Association of Medical Research Charities
- Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry
- BioIndustry Association (BIA)
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Medical Research Council (MRC)
- British Society of Plant Breeders Ltd.
- Center for Genetics and Society
- Christian Action Research & Education (CARE)
- Christian Medical Fellowship
- Comment on Reproductive Ethics (CORE)
- Compassion in World Farming
- Cystic Fibrosis Trust
- EcoNexus
- GARNet
- Genetic Alliance UK
- GM Freeze
- Mary Lyon Centre, MRC Harwell
- Mission and Public Affairs Council, Church of England
- Muscular Dystrophy UK
- NBT Platform
- PHG Foundation
- Progress Educational Trust
- REGenableMED consortium
- Royal Society
- Royal Society of Biology
- Target Malaria
- The Sainsbury Laboratory and The John Innes Centre
- Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB)
- Wellcome Trust
- Xenoislet and TransLink Projects
The Working Group also benefited from informal correspondence with the following organisations:
- Hindu Council UK
- Muslim Council of Britain
- Office of the Chief Rabbi
- Sikh Missionary Society UK
Respondents who submitted published material
The Working Group also received submissions of published material from two individuals and two organisations
- Catherine Kendig
- Sarah Hartley, University of Nottingham
- Friends of the Earth Australia
- Greenpeace
Fact finding meetings and research interviews
As part of its work, the Working Group held a series of fact-finding meetings with experts from a range of fields, including the following:
- Perspectives on genome technologies: 11 November 2015
- Genome editing in plant science: 11 November 2015
- Genome editing and animal research: 25 January 2016
- Biomedical research and applications: 24 February 2016
More details about these meetings and who attended are available in Appendix 1 of the review.
External review
An earlier version of this report was reviewed by six individuals with expertise in disciplines relevant to different aspects of the project.