Gene editing of pets: The ethical dilemma!

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The RSPCA Royal Society for the Protection of Animals in the United Kingdom has warned that pets could be subjected to gene editing under a new government act, the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act1. The act applies to all vertebrate animals, not only farmed animals, and it could lead to cats and dogs being gene-edited to include extreme features2. Gene editing means alteration of the genetic material of a living organism by inserting, replacing, or deleting a DNA sequence, typically with the aim of improving some characteristic of a crop or farm animal or correcting a genetic disorder3.

Gene editing is performed using enzymes that have been engineered to target a specific DNA sequence, where they introduce cuts into the DNA strands, enabling the removal of existing DNA and the insertion of replacement DNA4. The most popular enzyme used for gene editing is CRISPR-Cas94.

Gene editing laws vary by country. In Europe, gene-edited plants and animals are regulated under the same rules as genetically modified organisms1. In contrast, there is no country where heritable human genome editing is permitted2. Although genome-editing is banned in many countries, necessary and practical laws, regulations and guidelines should be developed3. A large majority of countries (96 out of 106) surveyed have policy documents—legislation, regulations, guidelines, codes, and international treaties—relevant to the use of genome editing to edit human embryos4.

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