WHO expert advisory committee on developing global standards for governance and oversight of human genome editing: report of the fifth meeting

Background

The World Health Organization (WHO) has established a global, multi-disciplinary expert panel to examine the scientific, ethical, social and legal challenges associated with human genome editing (both somatic and germline). The Committee includes members from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Oceania, North America and South America.

The Committee has been tasked to advise and make recommendations on appropriate institutional, national, regional and global governance mechanisms for human genome editing. During the course of its work, the Committee will review literature on current human genome editing research and its applications, consider existing proposals for governance and relevant ongoing initiatives, as well as solicit information about societal attitudes towards the different uses of this technology. The Committee will explore how best to promote transparent and trustworthy practices and how to ensure appropriate assessments are performed prior to any relevant work being undertaken.

Work of the previous meeting

The Committee held its fourth meeting remotely from 2 to 4 September 2020. Each day addressed a separate topic. The first day focused on the report Heritable human genome editing produced by the International Commission on the Clinical Use of Human Germline Genome Editing. The meeting was briefed by the co-chairs and members of the Commission. During the second day, the Committee considered the responses from the second online consultation. The Committee agreed a workplan to revise the draft governance framework in light of the responses received and its subsequent discussions. There were also briefings by WHO programmes on strategic foresight and regulatory harmonization. During the final day of the meeting, the Committee reviewed expected outputs from its work and began developing an outline for its final report. The Committee’s working groups provided updates. The Committee discussed and took decisions on the timeline for future work, as well as on appropriate ways of working.

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Health Ethics & Governance