Victoria Gray of Mississippi recently became the first U.S. patient with a genetic disorder to be treated using the Crispr gene-editing technique. Doctors used a novel drug to overwrite the function of a faulty gene that gave rise to her sickle-cell disease. Advances in life science can define this century, but policy makers must resist the urge to adopt policies that impose price controls and punish drugmakers for taking risks.

The convergence of information technology and biology allows scientists to translate the human...