Newswise — Who: Debra Mathews, PhD, MAAssistant Director for Science Programs, Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of BioethicsSteering Committee Member, Hinxton Group
Author of opinion in STAT forum: Are we playing with fire when we edit human genes?
Co-author of Nature commentary “CRISPR: A path through the thicket”
Co-author Hinxton Group consensus statement: “Statement on Genome Editing Technologies and Human Germline Genetic Modification”
What: Worldwide, including United States, policy consideration for regulation of human gene-editing science utilizing CRISPR and other precise gene-editing technologies. This includes potential editing that affects the human germline, the traits inheritable from generation to generation.
Dr. Mathews quotes:
“While there is controversy and deep moral disagreement about human germline genetic modification, what is needed is not to stop all discussion, debate and research, but rather to engage with the public, policymakers and the broader scientific community, and to weigh together the potential benefits and harms of human genome editing for research and human health.”
From opinion in STAT forum:
"Research on germline editing to gain fundamental knowledge about the nature of the human genome and early embryonic development is important and ethically permissible."
Availability:Dr. Mathews is available for phone and radio interviews from Baltimore, MD. ISDN is available with notice.
Contact Leah Ramsay, Media Relations Officer, [email protected], 202.642.9640
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