Right of reply - Response to: In defence of South Africa’s National Health Research Ethics Council guidelines on heritable human genome editing

Authors

  • M Ramsay Director, Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
  • M S Pepper Director, SAMRC Extramural Unit on Stem Cell Research and Therapy, and Director, Institute for Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, South Africa
  • J de Vries Director, The EthicsLab, University of Cape Town, South Africa
  • S Mahomed Department of Jurisprudence, School of Law, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa
  • E Flack-Davison Head: Research Legal, Compliance and Integrity, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7196/SAMJ.2025.v115i1.3083

Keywords:

human genome editing

Abstract

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References

1. South Africa. National Health Act No. 61 of 2003.

2. Ramsay M, Pepper M, de Vries J, Mahomed S, Flack-Davison E. Heritable human genome editing

in South Africa – time for a reality check. S Afr Med J 2025;115(1):e2872. https://doi.org/10.7196/ SAMJ.2025.v115i1.2872

3. World Health Organization Expert Advisory Committee on Developing Global Standards for Governance and Oversight of Human Genome Editing. Report of the third meeting, Cape Town, South Africa, 25 - 26 February 2020. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2021. https://iris.who.int/bitstream/hand le/10665/345252/9789240028494-eng.pdf?sequence=1(accessed20January2025).

4. National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine. International commission on the clinical use of human germline genome editing. NASEM, 2025. https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/international- commission-on-the-clinical-use-of-human-germline-genome-editing (accessed 20 January 2025).

5. Scientists call for revision on South Africa’s guidelines on genome engineering. Nature News Africa. 14 January 2025. https://www.nature.com/articles/d44148-025-00006-7 (accessed 20 January 2025).

6. Southern African Society for Human Genetics. SASHG committee consensus statement on heritable human genome editing. SASHG, 2025. https://sashg.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SASHG- Committee-Consensus-statement-on-HGGE-Indaba-20241213.pdf (accessed 30 January 2025).

7. National Health Research Ethics Council. South African Ethics in Health Research Guidelines – Principles, Processes and Structures. 3rd ed. Pretoria: National Department of Health, 2024. https:// www.health.gov.za/nhrec-guidelines/ (accessed 20 January 2025)

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Published

2025-02-18

Issue

Section

Correspondence

How to Cite

1.
Ramsay M, Pepper MS, de Vries J, Mahomed S, Flack-Davison E. Right of reply - Response to: In defence of South Africa’s National Health Research Ethics Council guidelines on heritable human genome editing. S Afr Med J [Internet]. 2025 Feb. 18 [cited 2025 Feb. 19];115(1):e3083. Available from: https://samajournals.co.za/index.php/samj/article/view/3083