Global Citizens

We have reached a singular global moment. We can now edit genes with unprecedented ease and precisionany genes, in almost any living thing, from plants, to insects to people. But public mistrust is building. Hard decisions need to be made. How do we apply this technology? What sort of future do we want? And who gets to decide? The Centre for Delibe... rative Democracy and Global Governance, together with an international network of research partners, are convening the first Global Citizens Assembly on Genome Editing to get to the heart of these issues. The assembly will propose global principles that will shape how this controversial technology will be used today and in the years to come. How do we apply this technology? What sort of future do we want? And, who gets to decide? With the recent shocking announcement of the worlds first-ever gene-edited humans Chinas secretly engineered CRISPR babies public mistrust is building. Hard decisions need to be made. How do we apply this technology? What sort of future do we want? And, who gets to decide? But what kind of global dialogue can take place? We live in an era of disinformation and political polarisation, of conspiracy theories and declining trust in scientific institutions. Is a meaningful discussion on complex technologies and moral disagreements possible? The Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance (the Centre) at the University of Canberra is convening the worlds first Global Citizens Assembly on genome editing. It presents a concrete response to the urgent ethical and regulatory questions in relation to genome-editing technologies. The Global Citizens Assembly will bring together at least twenty-four participants representing different countries across all continents most affected by genome editing. Participants will take part in five days of deliberations about the global principles of governance of genome editing. They will have access to eminent scientists at the forefront of genomic research, ethicists, and other stakeholders. They will ...Read More