The update to South Africa's health-research ethics guidelines raises alarms, as it may lead the nation towards permitting heritable human genome editing, a highly controversial practice.
Bioethicist Françoise Baylis expressed bafflement over the decision to amend the guidelines, highlighting the risks associated with genetically modifying children, a practice no other country explicitly allows.
There is widespread international consensus that heritable human genome editing is not acceptable in clinical settings, despite potential benefits like preventing inherited diseases.
The lack of consultation from South Africa's scientific community regarding the guidelines raises concerns among researchers and ethicists about transparency and ethical governance.
Collection
[
|
...
]