CRISPR Gene Editing Teach-Out

One of the key themes throughout this Teach-Out has been the importance of inviting the public into a discussion.

Simon Niemeyer is a co-founder of the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance and a professor at the University of Canberra. He conducts research on deliberative democracy, which brings people who have diverse identities, backgrounds, and values together to reflect on topics of societal importance. In this next video, he explains how social psychology indicates that human brains are wired to reason and develop knowledge in group settings, resulting in greater shared understanding.

Françoise rejoins the Teach-Out to discuss the importance of moving the conversation about the future of human genome editing from labs and boardrooms to public spaces. She emphasizes the importance of global dialogue and the need for a wider ecology of values in determining how best to invest “time, talent and treasure”. Such dialogue has implications for priority setting across a range of issues, such as what genetic diseases should be the focus of research involving somatic human genome editing.

Finally, Simon speaks to the Global Citizens’ Assembly on Genome Editing, an initiative on which both he and Dianne Nicol work. This assembly was proposed by Sonya Pemberton, Emmy Awarded Documentary Film Partner and Creative Director of Genepool Productions, whose passion is science programming.  They articulate their intent: “The Global Citizens’ Assembly will bring together at least twenty-four participants representing different countries across all continents most affected by genome editing. Participants will take part in five days of deliberations about the global principles of governance of genome editing. They will have access to eminent scientists at the forefront of genomic research, ethicists, and other stakeholders. They will have the ear of decision-makers at national and global levels.”