Medicine stands on the threshold of an era of ultra-precise genetic treatments but urgent action is needed to bring down “extremely high” costs, experts told a global conference on human genome editing.
Clinical trials using novel technologies such as Crispr are showing remarkable promise in treating a range of previously incurable diseases, researchers told the International Summit on Human Genome Editing. The summit was convened by the UK Royal Society and Academy of Medical Sciences, US National Academy of Sciences and World Academy of Sciences.
But the conference organising committee said at the end of the three-day meeting on Wednesday: “A global commitment to affordable, equitable access to these treatments is urgently needed.”