Senators Call for International Gene-Editing Standards

A bipartisan group of three senators introduced a resolution Monday seeking international ethical standards for gene-editing research.

Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) announced the resolution that would encourage the federal government to work with international groups to set worldwide standards in response to the November 2018 birth of two babies in China from gene-edited embryos.

The resolution is in response to the “CRISPR babies” scandal that erupted following the announcement by researcher He Jiankui who claimed to have used the CRISPR-Cas9 technique to disable the CCR5 gene that allows HIV to infect humans.