We now have the ability to edit human genes. In fact, just last month, scientists announced that they had edited genes in human embryos to repair a common and serious disease-causing mutation. Significant questions remain, however, about just how safe and effective new gene editing tools are. In addition, a number of moral concerns beyond safety have been raised in response to gene editing, including that humans risk playing God or inappropriately altering nature.

In this talk, I will describe some of these “non-safety” concerns and ask what, if any, place those have in public deliberation and science policy.

Speaker: Josephine Johnston