基因编辑婴儿引发的代理同意难题解析

Challenges of Proxy Consent Related to Germline Gene-edited Babies

人类首例基因编辑婴儿事件引发了关于代理同意的新思考。在人类首次以“生育”为目的的生殖细胞系基因编辑临床研究中,受试父母未能获得真正的知情同意,也就难以代理人类后代做出是否同意的决定。为此,在未来的基因编辑技术临床研究中,要格外重视知情同意的伦理审查,开展针对性的研究。

The event of the world’s first genetically edited babies raises novel puzzle of proxy consent. In the first clinical study of gene-edited germ cell lines for the purpose of ’fertility’, the subjects’ parents were not sufficiently informed, so it is controversial whether the parents of the subjects have the right to consent on behalf of their offsprings. Therefore, we suggest that ethical review of informed consent related to clinical research on gene editing technology should be strengthened in the future and it is necessary to launch research on this issue.