Taking responsibility: Asilomar and its legacy

Fifty years ago, a group of scientists paused work in their labs to discuss the risks of a dawning biotechnology revolution. On this anniversary, what can we learn by reflecting on the legacy of the 1975 Asilomar conference and the relations it modelled between science in society? In a new article in Science, Global Observatory Co-Director Benjamin Hurlbut calls for "democratic renewal." The Global Observatory for Genome Editing will host an international summit May 21-23, 2025 that takes up just this charge.