GENETIC EDITING AND THE LAW: NAVIGATING CRISPR TECHNOLOGIES IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT

Abstract

The genetic editing, and specifically the development of CRISPR-Cas9, the scientific potential to make changes in genomes in a highly specific and efficient way has been significantly increased, transforming the research in the fields of medicine, agriculture, and environmental science. These fast developments bring up complicated ethical, legal, and social issues that traverse national borders and require a unified governance solution to make sure that the benefits are distributed and risks are reduced. The article compares the world regulatory frameworks of up-and-coming technologies in the field of gene editing and compares two opposite methods of how the nation should approach the issue, both in the realm of somatic application, aimed at treating the disease in a particular patient, and in the realm of germline interventions, which can alter heritable features and thus have long-lasting consequences on the society. It also takes into account the examples of the past, like the Asilomar conference in the early years of self-regulation, and recent years, international guidelines, to find the right balance between innovation and population protection. It discusses the basics of bioethics, human rights, and risk governance, and evaluates the impacts of different policy instruments on safety, fairness, and intellectual property relations and enforcement. The study cites such crucial governance concerns as regulatory fragmentation, scientific ignorance, inequitable access, and tracking cross-border action issues, and the opportunities of therapeutic breakthroughs, agricultural resilience, and ecological governance in responsible stewardship.