Report from the International Commission on the Clinical Use of Human Germline Genome Editing
Hear from the co-chairs and commissioners of the International Commission on the Clinical Use of Human Germline Genome Editing as they launch their report defining a responsible pathway for the clinical use of heritable human genome editing, should a decision be made by any nation to permit its use.
The Commission was formed in the aftermath of the 2018 International Summit on Human Genome Editing held in Hong Kong, where a researcher from China announced that twins had been born following editing he had performed on early embryos, despite broad agreement in the scientific and clinical communities that it was premature and irresponsible to undertake heritable human genome editing.
It comprises 18 representatives from 10 nations with expertise in genome editing technology; human genetics and genomics; reproductive, paediatric, and adult medicine; regulatory science; bioethics; and international law.
The U.S. National Academy of Medicine, U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the U.K. Royal Society are the secretariat of the Commission.
An embargoed copy of the Commission’s report will be available on request 24 hours in advance of the media briefing from the Royal Society and U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine press offices. Please email press@royalsociety.org or news@nas.edu
Media Briefing
What? Media briefing from the International Commission on the Clinical Use of Human Germline Genome Editing, hosted by the Science Media Centre
When? NEW TIME: 9 a.m. U.S. EDT // 2 p.m. U.K. BST Thursday, Sept. 3
Where? Zoom webinar (details below)
Please note that this is an embargoed, on-record briefing for the science and health journalists on our press lists – but it isn’t a public event and we’re not allowing live-streaming. Please do not share the registration details publicly, and please check with us before forwarding to colleagues not on our lists.
Speakers will include:
Prof Dame Kay Davies, D.Phil., Co-Chair of the Commission and Professor of Genetics, University of Oxford, UK
Prof Richard Lifton, M.D., Ph.D., Co-Chair of the Commission and President, The Rockefeller University, USA
Prof Michèle Ramsay, Ph.D., Director and Research Chair, Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
Prof Haoyi Wang, Ph.D., State Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Reproductive Biology, Institute of Zoology, Institute for Stem Cell and Regeneration, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.R. China
This briefing will take place on Zoom – to register for the webinar, please follow this link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/5115877334274/WN_9axSz-qLQB-kN52A6j3oAA
If you’d like to dial in via a phone instead of via Zoom, that will be possible, but you will still need to register via the link to get the dial-in details. Please send any questions you have in advance via email.
Please also note that the Commission’s co-chairs, Kay Davies and Richard Lifton, have limited availability for interviews and the SMC media briefing is the best opportunity for access to the co-chairs and representatives from the Commission.
For further information regarding the content of the briefing please call Fiona Fox at the SMC on 07973 819 612 or fiona@sciencemediacentre.org, or for any technical queries about the briefing please email Andy Hawkes at andy@sciencemediacentre.org