Technology or method
Gene editing
Making targeted changes to DNA in living cells. Newer base and prime editors change letters without cutting both strands.
Emerging researchOpen in Biotech Lab
Bioethics
Weighing the benefits, risks and fairness of biological research and its uses.Source: National Academies, 2017Source: WHO, 2021
Ethics and safety
How Bioethics connects
Bioethics is raised by
Technology or method
Cloning
Producing a genetically identical copy. Dolly the sheep, reported in 1997, was cloned from an adult cell.
Idea or model
Human genome
The full DNA sequence of a human. Drafts were published in 2001, and the first gap-free sequence in 2022.
Bioethics includes the example
Ethics and safety
Genome editing governance
Recommendations for overseeing human genome editing, which distinguish editing a patient's body cells from heritable editing.
Ethics and safety
Biosafety
Risk-based practices and containment that protect people and the environment when working with biological agents.
Studied in
Your progress
Sources & further reading
The explanations on this page are our own summaries of these sources. Follow a link to read the original; if anything here disagrees with it, the original wins. How we choose and check sources.
Human Genome Editing: Science, Ethics, and Governance (opens the original in a new tab)
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2017). The National Academies Press.
Consensus reportWHO issues new recommendations on human genome editing for the advancement of public health (opens the original in a new tab)
World Health Organization (2021). WHO news release. World Health Organization. Published 2021-07-12.
Fact sheetIntergovernmental source