Heritable human genome editing in South Africa - time for a reality check

Abstract

Referring to the third edition of the South African Ethics in Health Research Guidelines: Principles, Processes and Structures (the guidelines) dated May 2024, Baylis and Hasson assert that the guidelines support heritable human genome editing (HHGE), which allows for children conceived from ‘gene-edited’ cells to be born. On 7 November 2024, a news item appeared in Nature titled ‘Will South Africa become first country to accept controversial form of human genome editing?’ As South African (SA) scholars in the fields of genetics, biology, law and ethics, we wish to express our dismay that national and international audiences should be misled to believe that SA law accommodates or should be changed to allow for the clinical application of HHGE. What is at stake is not whether HHGE is permissible for research purposes in SA, but whether it is permissible to create live births.