64 / SEEDWORLD.COM JANUARY 2018 After the witnesses presented their testimonies about their work with CRISPR technologies, senators were allowed to begin their questioning of the witnesses. The first question came from Republican Sen. Susan Collins from Maine, which addressed the ethical issue of using gene editing to advance a person’s intelligence or athleticism – how could policy makers ensure that all countries and scientists make sure that the technologies are used for the correct reasons? Kahn asserted that there was an international dialogue already happening around the world, with a summit previ- ously held in 2015, and a second summit to be held in China in 2018. “It is the case in our history that prohi- bitions and bans have led not to control, but quite the opposite,” says Kahn. “When technologies are banned in this country, scientists find places where there are either lax or no oversight to go perform them. A much smarter approach is a strict control to allow careful, responsible science to go forward in ways that are controlled and within our boarders.” Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan from New Hampshire, questioned the differ- ences between editing RNA and DNA, and Republican Sen. Tim Scott from South Carolina, asked for clarification on how CRISPR technologies could cure a person with sickle-cell disease. Sen. Alexander asked how the FDA would be involved in approving clinical trials and treatments based on CRISPR technologies, and whether or not there would be a challenge in getting a prompt approval from the FDA. “The FDA has the appropriate author- ity and they’re exercising it well and thoughtfully, so I don’t see any need for any change in legislation,” Bosley says. Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine questioned the amount of regulation necessary to keep safety and stopping researchers from fleeing to another country to practice. Kahn defended this idea by presenting the idea of the UK’s approach to regulation. In Kahn’s writ- ten testimony, he presented the UK’s regulatory example, “where scientists are taking the lead internationally in research involving potential human applications of these technologies. This owes not to lax oversight but rather the contrary— strict oversight with clear pathways for licensure by the responsible regulatory agency, allowing careful and controlled progress with clear reporting and evalua- tion of results before proceeding, creating a clear path forward.” Sen. Scott echoed this sentiment in his final remarks, saying: “I will say, Mr. Chairman, that someone, somewhere, some nation will set the ethical bounda- ries for this conversation going forward and it certainly would be helpful for the United States of America to establish those boundaries to a large extent.” While CRISPR technologies seem to pose an impending ethical problem, it seems that with the correct regulation approach, gene-editing can help people and agriculture alike by editing out gene- based diseases. SW “... someone, somewhere, some nation will set the ethical boundaries for this conversation going forward ...” — Sen. Tim Scott CRISPR was developed in 1993, but it only recently became useful to treat humans in 2013. DID YOU KNOW?