Editing fetal genomes is on the horizon a medical anthropologist explains why ethical discussions with the target communities should happen sooner rather than later

Most scientists lack training and incentives to consider the societal impacts of their technologies, making real-time ethics oversight difficult, especially in genomic medicine.

The 2015 statement urging a halt to germline genome editing highlighted the need for discussions on merits and risks, but these discussions largely failed to take place.

By 2018, despite warnings, babies were born in China from controversial germline editing, highlighting the risks of unregulated science and the phenomenon of 'cowboy scientists'.

While human prenatal genome editing has not yet occurred, the ethical implications are significant, necessitating community engagement to explore these concerns proactively.

Read at The Conversation