He Jiankui, a Chinese researcher, spoke at a conference on human genome editing in Hong Kong in November and claimed to have helped make the world’s first gene-edited babies. (Kin Cheung/AP)
In July 2018, the Nuffield Bioethics Councilpointed out that there is “no international treaty of general application” designated for the “direct” regulation of the human genome or its modification. It called for governments to work within extant “international human rights institutions such as the Council of Europe and UNESCO” to foster robust public discussion and international governance for genome editing. It recommended that governments create an “international Declaration” affirming that “people whose genomes have been edited should be entitled to the full enjoyment of human rights.”
