Researchers call for a global citizens’ assembly on genome editing [Picture: Alice Mollon]
Researchers call for a global citizens' assembly on genome editing [ Picture: Alice Mollon] For some people it promises the ability to cure or even prevent serious diseases, for others it is an ethically unjustifiable experiment to carry out on a human being. Genome editing - the deliberate modification of human genetic material - is one of the most controversial topics in modern medicine. Up until now it has mostly been discussed by experts and politicians. However, 25 internationally-renowned scientists, including Prof. André Bächtiger from the University of Stuttgart, have now called for lay citizens from around the world to be included in the debate in an article in the specialist magazine "Science". Designer babies and Frankenstein: these are the kind of nightmarish images which spring to mind for many people when they hear of genome editing. The reality of manipulating the DNA of an organism in such a way that the change can be passed down to the next generation is less dramatic than that, but it is highly complex. "The consequences of genome editing are so serious that the discussion shouldn't be reserved just for doctors, scientists and politicians", explains Prof. André Bächtiger, Head of the Department of Political Theory and Empirical Democracy Research at the University of Stuttgart's Institute for Social Sciences and Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Risk and Innovation Studies (ZIRIUS), who was the only German to contribute to the article.
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