Stephen Hawking

Despite calls for bans, someone will carry out genetic engineering on humans.

“Of course many people will say that genetic engineering on humans should be banned. But I rather doubt if they will be able to prevent it. Genetic engineering on plants and animals will be allowed for economic reasons and someone is bound to try it on humans.”

Said on

6 March 1998 · White House Millennium Evening lecture "Imagination and Change: Science in the Next Millennium".

Source

Imagination and Change: Science in the Next Millennium · Clinton White House archive (NARA)

Should come true

No date given

How sure they sounded

I rather doubt they will be able to prevent it; someone is bound to

Categories

HealthTechnology

Importance

4 of 5 · Heritable human genetic engineering raises global ethical and evolutionary consequences.

Outcome

Accurate Happened 26 November 2018.

In November 2018 He Jiankui announced the birth of twin girls whose embryos he had edited with CRISPR to try to make them resistant to HIV. This was the first known human germline genetic engineering, and it happened despite widespread bans. He was jailed for three years in December 2019.

Evidence:

• https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614997/he-jiankui-sentenced-to-three-years-in-prison-for-crispr-babies/
• https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/chinese-scientist-he-jiankui-who-touted-crispr-editing-sentenced-three-years-prison-today-2019-12-30