After two years of debate, the WHO (World Health Organization) released documents in July supporting the regulation of gene editing. The texts make recommendations about the governance and oversight of human genome editing, a thorny issue for governments and researchers.
The guidelines include the registration of research with editing the human genome, combating illegal, unregistered, unethical or unsafe research, intellectual property and ethical dumping — which occurs when research is carried out in countries that have legal and institutional weaknesses.
The documents propose that WHO take the moral and scientific lead on the use of gene editing techniques. For 2022, the discussion of the creation of an anonymous whistleblower mechanism for activities that violate the guidelines is expected.
In an interview with sheet, Katie Hasson, a researcher at the Center for Genetics and Society in Oakland, Calif., praised the WHO initiative, but shared concerns about the lack of burden on those who break the defined standards.
Hasson argues that, although the use of gene editing techniques for severe conditions is a consensus in the scientific community, many details still need to be discussed. “Who can draw these lines? What constitutes serious illness versus non-serious illness?”
Graduated in medicine and law, Julian Hitchcock works on the regulation of life science technologies and argues that an international ban from the WHO is unlikely.
“The obvious reason is the fact that, to be legitimate, laws must reflect the will of those appointing legislators, not that of a group of unelected individuals.” Hitchcock also says that the report is normative in nature and will likely be reflected by the laws of each country.
Doris Schroeder, director of the center for professional ethics at the University of Lancashire, UK, says that Brazilian authorities need to communicate the risks of gene editing for Latin America, which may be different.
Brazil prohibits genetic editing of embryos. But advanced cell therapies, tissue bioengineering and gene therapy are allowed, as in cancer treatment.
Martin Bonamino, a researcher at Inca (National Cancer Institute), uses the Crispr method to manipulate specific genes that have therapeutic relevance in the treatment of cancer. The technique consists of identifying a region (or sequence) of the DNA and promoting a precise cut at that point.
He collects T lymphocytes from cancer patients and edits these cells in the lab to “turn off” some proteins that inhibit T cell function. The edited T lymphocytes will have the ability to recognize and kill tumors. Research is under development for clinical use in the future.
This is called gene therapy, which involves manipulating the function of a gene or introducing healthy genes with editing techniques.
This type of therapy has been used successfully to treat a variety of cancers — such as leukemias and lymphomas — and diseases caused by defective genes.
Other possible applications of genetic editing are the creation of human lymphocytes resistant to HIV infection, the elimination of mosquitoes that transmit malaria and dengue, the transplantation of human-edited pig organs, and the cure of monogenic diseases such as cystic fibrosis and type 1 diabetes .
The Crispr method is the simplest and most efficient form of genetic editing described to date. Practicality and low cost encourage its indiscriminate use in human genetic editing, and this is the main concern of Jennifer Doudna, an American biochemist and one of the creators of the technique.
The scientist appealed to the scientific community in favor of the rational use of technology in humans, directing the focus to the development of gene therapies to treat diseases, and not to the editing of hereditary genes – which can be transmitted to subsequent generations, modifying the characteristics of descendants.
Hereditary genetic editing is done on embryos that, once implanted, develop into a genetically modified human being, such as the Chinese twins who would have been born resistant to HIV.
In non-hereditary or somatic editing, only some DNA cells are changed to treat diseases caused by certain defective genes.
Although the hereditary edition is the most controversial, the non-hereditary one also carries issues such as unequal access due to extremely high costs. An experimental treatment for lymphoma with CAR-T cells using the genetic editing technique, successfully applied at USP in 2019, has an estimated total cost of US$ 1 million.
Bonamino says it’s not possible to guarantee 100% accuracy in the technique, which makes stem cell editing very dangerous. This is because such cells can differentiate into other cell types (as in the embryo). Inaccurate editing, however small, can have unpredictable consequences.
“Any genetic editing can be mistaken, and the risks for human genetic editing are not yet known”, says the Inca researcher.
The potential of genetic editing goes beyond the health area. The Crispr method can be used in any living cell, animals, plants and microorganisms, allowing the expansion of study models for basic research, as well as applications in agriculture and livestock, such as the improvement of vegetables, the production of transgenic foods resistant to pests etc.
After all, should the scientific community proceed with research to understand the risks and determine thresholds, or should the scientific community first set a threshold and continue research risk-free?
These and other issues will be discussed at the next international summit on human genetic editing (Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing), which will take place in London next year.
Key findings and regulatory milestones in gene editing
Technologies that alter gene sequences are used in medical, agricultural and environmental science research
1944 Oswald Avery, Canadian bacteriologist, defines DNA as the molecule that carries the genetic information
1953 Rosalind Franklin, James Watson e Francis Crick desvendam a structured DNA. British biophysics produced fundamental X-ray diffraction images of DNA to build the double helix model created by the two
1972 American biochemist Paul Berg “cuts” and “glues” strands of DNA, creating hybrids of viruses and bacteria. It’s the first DNA recombinant of the history and foreshadowing of genetic engineering
1975Berg organizes the Asilomar Conference to discuss gene manipulation technologies, especially biosafety
1985 Aaron Klug, British chemist, discovers the zinc finger nucleases , the first genetic editing tool, which uses nucleases and proteins to recognize and cut specific parts of DNA
2011 The high-precision editing tool appears Languages(Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nucleases), also based on nucleases and proteins
2012Jennifer Doudna, American biochemist, and Emmanuelle Charpentier, French microbiologist, describe the method Crispr-Cas9, which uses RNA associated with the Cas9 protein to precisely cut the double strand
2015 Junjiu Huang uses Crispr to edit germ cells in an experiment to create embryos with genetic alterations that could be hereditary, violating ethical principles
2015 First International Summit on Human Genetic Editing, in the USA: scientists recommend the advancement of research, but warn of the risks of inaccuracies in the technique when editing embryos
2018 Second Summit in Hong Kong: He Jiankui Announces Birth of Genetically Edited Babies; a year later he is sentenced to prison in China for violating ethical principles
2019WHO creates advisory committee for development of global standards for governance and oversight of human genome editing
2022 The third summit should take place at the Francis Crick Institute in London
.
Chad-98Weaver, a distinguished author at NewsBulletin247, excels in the craft of article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a penchant for storytelling, Chad delivers informative and engaging content that resonates with readers across various subjects. His contributions are a testament to his dedication and expertise in the field of journalism.
