The prospect of gene editing has brought on a controversial debate about the ethics of human modification, prompting much news coverage and commentary. But according to The University of Manchester’s Professor Matthew Cobb, a far more pressing issue is raised by the modification of non-human organisms. BBC Radio Four today broadcasts a documentary by Professor Cobb called ‘Editing Life’, on the scientific, ethical and ecological implications of the gene editing technique called CRISPR. Here he lays out his argument and calls for international consensus on the issue.

“CRISPR is transforming biological and medical research, and has controversial potential for altering humans and the natural world. This new way of editing genes presents the whole of humanity with major challenges.

“The technique enables scientists to precisely alter the genes of any organism – changing just a single letter of a genetic code at will, removing whole genes, or even introducing new stretches of DNA, enabling the organism to produce new proteins, or carry out new tasks.

“Unquestionably, it is going to change our world, even if it is never used on humans, and even if no CRISPR modified organisms are released into the wild. It is going to alter the pace of scientific discovery in the laboratory in unprecedented and unpredictable ways. But the real challenges of CRISPR are not scientific, they are ethical and political.“