The World Health Organisation Establishes Expert Panel to Develop World Standards for Governance and Oversight of Human Gene Editing

 

 

|| December 17: 2018 || ά. The World Health Organisation:WHO is establishing a global multi-disciplinary expert panel to examine the scientific, ethical, social and legal challenges, associated with human gene editing, both somatic and germ cell. The panel will review the current literature on the state of the research and its applications and societal attitudes towards the different uses of this technology.

WHO will, then, receive advice from the panel on appropriate oversight and governance mechanisms, both at the national and international level. Core to this work will be understanding how to promote transparency and trustworthy practices and how to ensure appropriate risk:benefit assessments are performed prior to any decision on authorisation.

The recent application of tools, such as, CRISPR-Casp9 to edit the human genome, have highlighted the need for the development of standards in this area. WHO’s expert working group will work in a consultative manner and build on existing initiatives.

As WHO proceeds, it is liaising with relevant UN and other international agencies and is in communication with the Academies of Science and Medicine, as well as, with bodies, that have produced previous reports.

WHO will be approaching leading experts in the world and publishing the membership of the panel, once, it receives responses and assesses conflicts of interest.:::ω. 

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