Statement from the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing

March 8, 2023

The Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing, took place March 6-8, 2023 at the Francis Crick Institute in London, UK. The Summit was co-organized by the UK Royal Society, UK Academy of Medical Sciences, US National Academies of Sciences and Medicine, and The World Academy of Sciences. At the end of the event, the Planning Committee shared a statement offering their conclusions.

The Statement emphasizes progress in somatic genome editing and emphasizes the need to develop accessible somatic genome editing treatments. It reemphasized that the necessary conditions for heritable human genome editing have not been met while also making a distinction between germline editing for research purposes and heritable genome editing for reproduction. This distinction carves out a space for research into germline genome editing, with the stated intent of demonstrating its safety and efficacy, up to the line of clinical use.