Nuffield appointment for SPA academic

Professor John Dupré, Director of the Egenis research centre, has been asked by the Council to join the core working group, which will explore the ethical issues raised by novel genome editing techniques that allow changes to be made to DNA molecules in living cells.  

While genome editing itself is not new, it has become much easier and more precise with recent technological innovations. Genome editing has a number of possible applications, including in humans, animals and plants. Last April the Council held a workshop with invited experts to identify the most important issues related to the technology that the Council should address, which highlighted a broad range of ethical issues.

The first stage of the group’s work will be to consider the impact of genome editing in research, examine the kinds of ethical questions this gives rise to and review relevant international and national policies. This will be followed by one or more focused report(s) on specific areas of application containing practical ethical guidance and focused policy recommendations. The findings of the first stage are due to be published in 2016.