An assessment of the current state of interdisciplinary CRISPR research. Report based on the workshop: The Technology and Ethics of CRISPR

CRISPR/Cas genome editing is a dynamic field of biotechnology that is evolving and establishing itself in diverse fields such as agriculture and human medicine. The rapid development of this technology is accompanied by public debate about its various applications. This article sets out the opportunities and risks of CRISPR/Cas9 technology from an interdisciplinary perspective. The occasion and inspiration for the article was a workshop entitled ‘The Technology and Ethics of CRISPR’, which was organised in collaboration between the University of Zurich’s Human Reproduction Reloaded (H2R) research programme and the University of Basel’s Centre for Life Sciences Law (ZLSR) and was held in spring 2024 with presentations by renowned experts from various scientific disciplines. The article outlines the current state of research on CRISPR with an overview of the natural and social sciences, legal and patent law as well as ethical aspects that appear to be essential for the interdisciplinary negotiation of the technology. This review of the application of CRISPR in medicine highlights the first approved CRISPR-based gene therapy for sickle cell anaemia and addresses the challenges of access and regulation that such medical breakthroughs face. The somatic application of gene editing is contrasted with its use in the human germline. The technological uncertainties and open ethical and socio-political questions regarding the latter are also summarised. Key findings from the workshop presentations are embedded in a discussion and analysis of the CRISPR ecosystem, which is characterised by public-private partnerships and a complex patent situation.