Rohit Shishodia
The World Health Organization (WHO) has given its approval for the first phase of a new global registry to track research on human genome editing. The approval has been given by the 18 member panel of the UN agency.

The panel has also announced an online consultation on the governance of genome editing. Genome editing is a type of genetic engineering in which DNA is inserted, deleted, modified or replaced in the genome of a living organism.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, DG, WHO, said that since WHO’s last meeting, some researchers have announced their wish to edit the genome of embryos and bring them to term which illustrates how crucial the work is, and how urgent it is.

Dr Tedros added that new genome editing technologies hold great promise and hope for people who are affected with diseases that were once thought untreatable. But some uses of these technologies also pose unique and unprecedented challenges – ethical, social, regulatory and technical.

Dr Tedros has stressed that governments should not allow any further work on human germline genome editing in human clinical applications until the technical and ethical implications have been properly considered.

Accepting the recommendation of the panel, the UN agency announced plans for an initial phase of the registry using the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP), an entity of the WHO.

Under this phase, somatic and germline clinical trials will be included. In order to ensure that the registry is fit for purpose and transparent, the panel will further engage with a broad range of stakeholders on how it will operate.