A Code of Ethics for Gene Drive Research

George J Annas¹, Chase L Beisel^{2

3}, Kendell Clement^{4

5

6}, Andrea Crisanti^{7

8}, Stacy Francis^{4

5

6}, Marco Galardini⁹, Roberto Galizi¹⁰, Julian Grünewald^{4

5

6}, Greta Immobile¹¹, Ahmad S Khalil^{9

12}, Ruth Müller^{11

13}, Vikram Pattanayak^{4

6}, Karl Petri^{4

5

6}, Ligi Paul^{4

5

6}, Luca Pinello^{4

5

6

14}, Alekos Simoni¹¹, Chrysanthi Taxiarchi⁷, J Keith Joung^{4

5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Center for Health Law, Ethics & Human Rights, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
² Helmholtz Institute of RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI), Helmholtz-Centre for Infection Research (HZI), Würzburg, Germany.
³ Faculty of Medicine, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
⁴ Molecular Pathology Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA.
⁵ Center for Cancer Research and Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA.
⁶ Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
⁷ Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
⁸ Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
⁹ Department of Biomedical Engineering and Biological Design Center, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
¹⁰ Centre for Applied Entomology and Parasitology, School of Life Sciences, Keele University, Keele, United Kingdom.
¹¹ Polo d'Innovazione Genomica Genetica e Biologia SCaRL, Siena, Italy.
¹² Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
¹³ Unit Entomology, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
¹⁴ Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

PMID: 33571044
PMCID: PMC7898401
DOI: 10.1089/crispr.2020.0096

A Code of Ethics for Gene Drive Research

George J Annas et al. CRISPR J. 2021 Feb.

. 2021 Feb;4(1):19-24.

doi: 10.1089/crispr.2020.0096. Epub 2021 Feb 10.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Center for Health Law, Ethics & Human Rights, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
² Helmholtz Institute of RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI), Helmholtz-Centre for Infection Research (HZI), Würzburg, Germany.
³ Faculty of Medicine, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
⁴ Molecular Pathology Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA.
⁵ Center for Cancer Research and Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA.
⁶ Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
⁷ Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
⁸ Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
⁹ Department of Biomedical Engineering and Biological Design Center, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
¹⁰ Centre for Applied Entomology and Parasitology, School of Life Sciences, Keele University, Keele, United Kingdom.
¹¹ Polo d'Innovazione Genomica Genetica e Biologia SCaRL, Siena, Italy.
¹² Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
¹³ Unit Entomology, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium.
¹⁴ Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

PMID: 33571044
PMCID: PMC7898401
DOI: 10.1089/crispr.2020.0096

Abstract

Gene drives hold promise for use in controlling insect vectors of diseases, agricultural pests, and for conservation of ecosystems against invasive species. At the same time, this technology comes with potential risks that include unknown downstream effects on entire ecosystems as well as the accidental or nefarious spread of organisms that carry the gene drive machinery. A code of ethics can be a useful tool for all parties involved in the development and regulation of gene drives and can be used to help ensure that a balanced analysis of risks, benefits, and values is taken into consideration in the interest of society and humanity. We have developed a code of ethics for gene drive research with the hope that this code will encourage the development of an international framework that includes ethical guidance of gene drive research and is incorporated into scientific practice by gaining broad agreement and adherence.

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Conflict of interest statement

G.J.A., C.L.B., A.C., S.F., M.G., R.G., G.I., A.S.K., R.M., L. Paul., A.S., and C.T. have no conflict of interest to declare. K.C. is an employee, shareholder, and officer of Edilytics, Inc. The interests of K.C. were reviewed and are managed by the Massachusetts General Hospital and Partners HealthCare in accordance with the conflict of interest policies. J.G., K.P., V.P., and J.K.J. are coinventors on patent applications that have been filed by Partners Healthcare/Massachusetts General Hospital on several gene editing and base editor technologies. K.P. is a consultant for Verve Therapeutics. L. Pinello has financial interests in Edilytics, Inc. The interests of L. Pinello were reviewed and are managed by the Massachusetts General Hospital and Partners HealthCare in accordance with the conflict of interest policies. A.S.K. is a scientific advisor for and holds equity in Senti Biosciences and Chroma Medicine, and is a cofounder of Fynch Biosciences and K2 Biotechnologies. V.P. is a cofounder of Excelsior Genomics and holds licensed IP related to CRISPR technologies. J.K.J. has financial interests in Beam Therapeutics, Chroma Medicine (f/k/a YKY, Inc.), Editas Medicine, Excelsior Genomics, Pairwise Plants, Poseida Therapeutics, Transposagen Biopharmaceuticals, and Verve Therapeutics (f/k/a Endcadia). J.K.J.'s interests were reviewed and are managed by the Massachusetts General Hospital and Partners HealthCare in accordance with the conflict of interest policies.

Figures

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References

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1. Champer J, Buchman A, Akbari OS. Cheating evolution: Engineering gene drives to manipulate the fate of wild populations. Nat Rev Genet. 2016;17:146–159. DOI: 10.1038/nrg.2015.34 - DOI - PubMed
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1. President's Commission, New Directions: The ethics of synthetic biology and emerging technologies 2010. Available at https://www.genome.gov/27542921/the-ethics-of-synthetic-biology-and-emer... Last accessed July23, 2020
1. Committee on Gene Drive Research in Non-Human Organisms: Recommendations for Responsible Conduct; Board on Life Sciences; Division on Earth and Life Studies; National Academies of Sciences Engineering and Medicine. In: Gene Drives on the Horizon: Advancing Science, Navigating Uncertainty, and Aligning Research with Public Values. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US) 2016 - PubMed

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A Code of Ethics for Gene Drive Research

Affiliations

A Code of Ethics for Gene Drive Research

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

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References

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MeSH terms

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Full Text Sources

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