Dalhousie bioethicist Fran莽oise Baylis has been named to a prestigious聽multidisciplinary committee聽that will聽plan the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing聽being held聽in London聽next year.
Dr.聽Baylis,聽a University Research Professor in Philosophy at Dalhousie and author of Altered Inheritance: CRISPR and the Ethics of Human Genome Editing, will join representatives from 11 nations聽in planning the three-day聽summit at鈥痶he Francis Crick Institute聽next March. The聽summit is being organised by the UK Royal Society and Academy of Medical Sciences, the U.S. National Academies of Sciences and Medicine and UNESCO-The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries.
Building on the work of the previous international summits in 2015 and 2018, the聽gathering聽will inform and聽generate聽debate around聽the聽uses of genome editing technologies in humans by bringing together participants from a range of countries.聽It also聽is intended to聽foster greater engagement with the genetic disease and disability communities,聽as well as聽companies developing genome editing therapies.
The聽summit will聽give experts a chance to聽discuss the findings and recommendations of the 2020 report of the International Commission on the Clinical Use of Human Germline Genome Editing and the 2021 reports by the聽WHO鈥檚聽Expert Advisory Committee on Developing Global Standards for Governance and Oversight of Human Genome Editing (of which Baylis was a member).
Dr. Baylis, a member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Nova Scotia, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences,聽is a philosopher whose innovative work aims to move the limits of mainstream bioethics and develop more effective ways to understand and tackle public policy challenges.
Ealier this month, she was (ISC) 鈥� an organization that promotes science as a global public good. She'll provide scientific and strategic leadership to the ISC in the role over a three-year term. That's in addition to the impact she has as a member of the WHO Working Group on Principles of the Global Guidance Framework for the Responsible Use of the Life Sciences and the Royal Society of Canada Committee on Public Engagement.
Advancing a global dialogue
It is key that there is global dialogue and collaboration on the safe and ethical application and use of human genome editing technologies. While聽these technologies offer promising new pathways to treat a variety of diseases, there are significant questions about how to ensure equitable access.
鈥淭hese are critically important issues and we are proud that Dr. Baylis will be at the centre of shaping these discussions,鈥� says Alice Aiken, vice-president Research and Innovation. 鈥淪he is a leading scholar in health-care ethics and a passionate advocate for ethics-based health policy decision-making.鈥�
It is expected that聽international stakeholders representing聽the academic, medical, regulatory, bioethical and patient communities will discuss聽a broad range of聽considerations regarding human genome editing. That will include:
- An update on advances in science and techniques in non-heritable and epigenetic genome editing since the 2018聽summit
- Current clinical research involving non-heritable genome editing and barriers to clinical applications
- The state of the science for germline genome editing in embryos and gametes
- Policy approaches to increase capacity and accessibility to treatments for genetic diseases globally
- Ethical, societal and cultural considerations surrounding human genome editing
- And, the role of non-scientists聽in setting the research agenda.
Details for the summit, which聽runs from鈥疢arch 7 to聽9, 2022, can be found on the organization鈥檚聽.