Pandemic risks: Are there some genetic experiments that simply should not be done?

What does responsible science mean when it comes to genetic experiments? Are some experiments so risky they simply should not be done? Researchers, policy makers, and the public have been debating these issues for the past 50 years, ever since the first tools of genetic engineering enabled scientists to rewrite the genetic code and create organisms that had never before existed. While significant headway has been made into finding common ground as to how society can develop appropriate governance criteria and set the right boundaries, translating the ambition of responsible scientists into practice and sticking to any agreed-upon “red lines” remain a challenge.