05/01/2015

The Debate on Gene Editing

17:42 minutes

In April, a group of scientists reported in the online journal Protein & Cell that they had edited human embryos using a gene editing technique called CRISPR. How should research progress as human gene editing techniques become cheaper, faster, and more precise? George Q. Daley, Director of the Stem Cell Transplantation Program at Boston Children’s Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and Alta Charo, a Professor of Law and Bioethics at the University of Wisconsin, discuss the promises and perils of engineering the human genome.

Segment Guests

George Q. Daley

George Q. Daley is a Harvard Medical School professor and director of the stem cell transplantation program at the Children’s Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts.

Alta Charo

Alta Charo is the Warren P. Knowles Professor of Law and Bioethics at the Departmentt of Medical History and Bioethics and School of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin.

Meet the Producer

About Alexa Lim

Alexa Lim was a senior producer for Science Friday. Her favorite stories involve space, sound, and strange animal discoveries.