Public Meetings and Webinars

Sessions at meetings and webinars held over the course of the study enabled Commissioners to obtain input from a range of stakeholders and members of the public.

The Commission's first meeting was held in August 2019 in Washington, DC. Public sessions provided an opportunity for the Commission to discuss its Statement of Task with the co-chairs of IOB and sponsoring organizations and to hear presentations on the state of understanding of genetics and genetic manipulation; on somatic genome editing translational pathways from scientists, developers, and regulatory bodies; and on the views of genetic disease patient communities.

In November 2019, the Commission held a second meeting and workshop in London, United Kingdom. The Commission heard from invited experts on topics such as the medical ethics of HHGE, how clinical use of HHGE would intersect with the use of assisted reproductive technologies, and technologies that might enable HHGE, including making and validating edits in embryos and germ cells, and what we can learn from animal models. In addition, the Commission hosted a session on governance developed in consultation with two members of the WHO Advisory Committee.

At a third meeting in January 2020, Commission members developed the conclusions and recommendations presented in this report.

In October 2019, the Commission also held a series of four public webinars on the state of research in relevant areas. These webinars covered (1) informed consent in the context of HHGE, (2) the impact of genome editing on embryo viability and the state of the science on editing spermatogonial stem cells, (3) homology directed repair and single cell genomics, and (4) validating on-target and off-target edits.

The list of speakers who provided input to the Commission in these meeting and webinar sessions is below.

Public Comments

The Commission's data-gathering meetings provided opportunities for the Commission to interact with a variety of stakeholders. Each public meeting included a public comment period, in which the Commission invited input from any interested party. The Commission also worked to make its activities as transparent and accessible as possible.

The study websites hosted by the U.S. National Academies and the U.K.'s Royal Society were updated regularly to reflect recent and planned Commission activities. Study outreach included a study-specific email address for comments and questions. A subscription to email updates was available to share further information and solicit additional comments and input to the Commission.

Live video streams with closed captioning were provided throughout the course of the study to allow the opportunity for input from those unable to attend public meetings in person. Information provided to the Commission from outside sources or through online comment is available by request through the National Academies' Public Access Records Office.

Call for Evidence

To inform its deliberations, the Commission invited responses to a public call for evidence during fall 2019. Several of the questions invited broad input on considerations associated with HHGE, while others asked for technical input in areas such as preclinical safety and efficacy and the use of genome editing in human embryos. Still other questions asked about considerations for informed consent, long-term monitoring, and oversight of HHGE.

There were 83 responses received. Respondents came from every continent and included academic leaders, lawyers, social scientists, philosophers, and representatives from disability advocacy groups, journals, national ethics councils, industry, and scientific societies.

Consulted Experts

The following individuals were invited speakers at data-gathering sessions of the Commission or provided other expert input.

• Sonia Abdelhak
• Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Tunisia
• Britt Adamson
• Princeton University, USA
• Fabiana Arzuaga
• Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation, Argentina
• Richard Ashcroft
• City University of London, U.K.
• Christina Bergh
• University of Gothenburg, Sweden
• Peter Braude
• King's College London, U.K.
• Annelien Bredenoord
• University Medical Centre Utrecht, Netherlands
• Aravinda Chakravarti
• New York University School of Medicine
• Sarah Chan
• University of Edinburgh, U.K.
• Ellen Clayton
• Vanderbilt University, USA
• Chad Cowan
• Harvard Stem Cell Institute, USA
• James Lawford Davies
• Hill Dickinson LLP, U.K.
• Tarek El-Toukhy
• Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, U.K.
• Frances Flinter
• King's College London, U.K.
• Denise Gavin
• Food and Drug Administration, USA
• Melissa Goldstein
• George Washington University, USA
• Margaret Hamburg
• U.S. National Academy of Medicine and Co-chair of WHO Expert Advisory Committee, USA
• Muntaser Ibrahim
• University of Khartoum, Sudan
• Pierre Jouannet
• Paris Descartes University, France
• Jin-Soo Kim
• Seoul National University, South Korea
• Robert Klitzman
• Columbia University, USA
• Bruce Levine
• University of Pennsylvania, USA
• Robin Lovell-Badge
• Francis Crick Institute, U.K.
• Sandy Macrae
• Sangamo Therapeutics, USA
• Julie Makani
• Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Tanzania
• Nick Meade
• Genetic Alliance U.K.
• Shoukhrat Mitalipov
• Oregon Health & Science University, USA
• Vic Myer
• Editas Medicine, USA
• Kathy Niakan
• Francis Crick Institute, U.K.
• Sarah Norcross
• Progress Educational Trust, U.K.
• Helen O'Neill
• University College London, U.K.
• Kyle Orwig
• Magee-Womens Research Institute, USA
• Matthew Porteus
• Stanford University, USA
• Adam Pearson
• Actor, Presenter, and Campaigner, U.K.
• Catherine Racowsky
• Brigham and Women's Hospital, USA
• Jackie Leach Scully
• University of New South Wales, Australia and Newcastle University, U.K.
• Azim Surani
• University of Cambridge, U.K.
• Sarah Teichmann
• Wellcome Sanger Institute, U.K.
• Sharon Terry
• Genetic Alliance, USA
• Peter Thompson
• Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, U.K.
• Carrie Wolinetz
• National Institutes of Health, USA
• Xiaoliang Sunney Xie
• Peking University, China
• Hui Yang
• Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
• Mohammed Zahir
• Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Tanzania