Open Access

Jens Reich, Heiner Fangerau, Boris Fehse, Jürgen Hampel, Ferdinand Hucho, Kristian Köchy, Martin Korte, Bernd Müller-Röber, Jochen Taupitz, Jörn Walter, Martin Zenke

• New, precise genetic engineering methods for genome alteration in living cells, which can be classed together under the generic heading “genome surgery”,are currently sparking a revolution in biomedical research. The Interdisciplinary Research Group Gene Technology Report is, in principle, in favour of research on these promising new methods for the medical sector. However, for the time being, it has clearly spoken out against gene surgery experiments on the human germ line, which could also enter the realm of possibility thanks to these methods.The research group, therefore, supports the call, which has already been discussed at length in scientific and public circles, for a moratorium for germ line experiments. The period of the moratorium should be used to debate the experimental, ethical and legal aspects of germ line therapy in an open, transparent and critical manner with a view to more clearly defining the opportunities and risks of these technologies for man and nature, and to elaborating recommendations for future regulations. The goal of this analysis is to promote a discourse of this kind.