“Prevention” and Human Gene Editing Governance

The Holocaust and the racial hygiene doctrine that helped rationalize it still overshadow contemporary debates about using gene editing for disease prevention. In part, this is because prevention can mean 3 different things, which are often conflated. Phenotypic involves modifying expression of pathogenic DNA variants to forestall their clinical effects in at-risk patients. Genotypic controlling transmission between generations avoid birth affected offspring. Preventive strengthening seeks improve normal human traits resist disease. These distinctions have been neglected governance discussions clarified article.