OHSU's Mitalipov proposes path forward for germline gene editing

Germline gene editing pioneer Shoukhrat Mitalipov has weighed in on therapeutic use of the technology, writing in a Nature Medicine perspective that it should only be applied when it can convert a mutated gene to the wild-type version. Such a move would cut off many nearer-term therapeutic applications and push human germline editing further into the future, since technologies for gene correction are not yet safe or efficacious for clinical use in humans. The piece was published Monday, a day before a House Appropriations Committee voted Tuesday to reinstate a ban on FDA review of applications to conduct human germline gene editing research.

In the perspective piece, Mitalipov and colleagues at Oregon Health & Science University reviewed different strategies for germline gene editing and opined that the field needs to focus on increasing the efficiency of error-free editing methods (see "Confirming CRISPR")...