The International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy (ISCT), Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM), and American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) reaffirm our collective position, as articulated in the Cytotherapy editorial “International Call for a 10-Year Moratorium on Heritable Human Genome Editing” (May 2025)
Recent news reports highlighting commercial efforts to normalize heritable human genome editing (HHGE) underscore the urgent need for sustained vigilance, ethical clarity, and enforceable global governance. Claims that germline editing should proceed because “the technology is ready” disregard the absence of both the demonstration of technical feasibility without adverse effects and legitimate clinical necessity. Such ventures risk undermining public trust in the entire field of genetic medicine, conflating speculative enhancement with legitimate, life-saving somatic gene therapies.
Reaffirmation of Core Principles:
Distinction between Somatic and Heritable Editing
Somatic cell gene editing (SCGE) continues to transform lives through rigorously evaluated, ethically governed, and clinically proven interventions. By contrast, HHGE—editing of embryos, gametes, or germline cells—remains scientifically uncertain, ethically indefensible, and legally prohibited in most jurisdictions.
Scientific and Safety Imperatives
No current HHGE platform achieves the precision or predictability required to ensure safety across many generations. Risks of mosaicism, off-target effects, and epigenetic disruption remain unresolved. It is neither rational nor responsible to advance human germline editing before long-term, multi-generational non-human primate safety data are generated over many years. Even then, the translation to humans would be technically uncertain and ethical and governance concerns would remain.
Ethical and Societal Responsibility
Introducing heritable genetic changes outside legitimate medical oversight threatens human dignity, equity, and social justice. Efforts to develop and commercialize germline modification for enhancement or parental preference echo the discredited ideologies of eugenics and must be unequivocally rejected.
Governance and Enforcement
We call upon global regulators, funding agencies, journal editors, and scientific societies to deny legitimacy and recognition to any individual or organization pursuing HHGE outside established ethical and legal frameworks. International cooperation must prevent medical tourism and enforce existing prohibitions on germline editing for reproductive use.
A Continued Call for a Global Moratorium
Until the global community achieves robust governance mechanisms, compelling medical justification, and multigenerational safety validation, HHGE must remain off-limits. The promise of gene editing to alleviate human suffering must not be jeopardized by premature, profit-driven attempts to rewrite the human germline. Our collective commitment is to ensure that scientific innovation continues in service of patients, grounded in safety, integrity, and respect for the shared future of humanity.