27/March/23

GMWatch comment on last week's events (no header link)

 

 

The Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing, held earlier this month at the Francis Crick Institute in London, closed with a statement that “heritable human genome editing remains unacceptable at this time”, adding, “Public discussions and policy debates continue and are important for resolving whether this technology should be used. Governance frameworks and ethical principles for the responsible use of heritable human genome editing are not in place.” Pointing to “risks and unintended effects” of gene editing, the statement warned that “Necessary safety and efficacy standards have not been met.” The statement may have prompted sighs of relief from those who were concerned that the summit’s participants would exploit the event to immediately push for changing the law banning human germline (heritable) genetic modification (HGM) in the UK. But the statement failed to meaningfully engage with the biggest ethical question around HGM. It focused on how to make the technology acceptable by improving “safety and efficacy”, while failing to lay to rest the spectre of eugenics that loomed over the summit. GMWatch

 

 

The Center for Biological Diversity today filed a notice of intent to sue the US Fish and Wildlife Service for failing to respond to a January 2019 petition to prohibit nearly all uses of pesticides in areas designated as critical habitat for endangered species. Since the petition was submitted, the Environmental Protection Agency has released more than a dozen assessments finding that various pesticides are causing grave harm to many of the nation’s most endangered plants and animals. But the Service has failed to put in place any on-the-ground conservation measures to protect species from the pesticides. “By ignoring the massive threat pesticides pose the Fish and Wildlife Service is pushing many of our most endangered plants and animals to the brink of extinction,” said Lori Ann Burd, the Center’s environmental health director. “We provided a common-sense roadmap for how to protect the most imperilled species in their most important habitats, but the Service hasn’t even bothered to respond.” Center for Biological Diversity

 

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