{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]],"date-time":"2026-10-01T10:35:13Z","timestamp":1790850913495,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":59,"publisher":"Cambridge University Press (CUP)","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,8]],"date-time":"2025-04-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1744070400000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":97,"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/terms"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J. Law. Med. Ethics"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:p>Genome editing, prominently led by the revolutionary CRISPR-Cas9 technology, is a powerful tool with significant applications in diverse fields, particularly in medicine and agriculture. It empowers scientists with the ability to effect precise genetic modifications, thereby potentially paving the way for advanced treatments for genetic disorders such as Huntington\u2019s disease, hemophilia, and cystic fibrosis. Yet, the significant capabilities of this technology also brings to the fore a myriad of intricate bioethical, legal, and regulatory dilemmas. In light of these complexities, this article endeavors to conduct a comprehensive scoping review of the existing literature on the most significant ethical implications emanating from genome editing. In conducting this review, we utilized the power of software tools like EndNote and Rayyan to aid in the systematic and thorough review of the literature. EndNote, a reference management software, was instrumental in organizing and managing the references and bibliographies, while Rayyan, a web application designed for managing and screening records for systematic and scoping reviews, proved crucial in the import and management of text records for the review.The review identified as main aspects of ethical, bioethical and medico-legal interest the exacerbation of social inequalities, safety concerns such as off-target mutations and immunological risks, ecological and evolutionary implications, and challenges to human dignity. It highlights the necessity for equitable access, rigorous regulation, and public engagement to address these issues responsibly.The ultimate objective of this article is to underscore the importance of an informed and inclusive dialogue regarding genome editing. Such dialogue is pivotal for fostering responsible innovation in this rapidly advancing field, ensuring that scientific progress aligns with ethical considerations. By presenting a comprehensive examination of the ethical implications of genome editing, we aim to contribute to this ongoing dialogue and promote a balanced and nuanced understanding of this impactful technology.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1017\/jme.2025.48","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,8]],"date-time":"2025-04-08T05:46:34Z","timestamp":1744091194000},"page":"106-114","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Genome Editing in Medicine: A Scoping Review of Ethical, Bioethical, and Medico-Legal Implications"],"prefix":"10.1017","volume":"53","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0861-3218","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Filippo","family":"Gibelli","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0445-0987","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giovanna","family":"Ricci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7041-838X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paolo","family":"Bailo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"56","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"S1073110525000488_r21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1057\/s41599-022-01147-y","article-title":"Beyond Safety: Mapping the Ethical Debate on Heritable Genome Editing Interventions","volume":"9","author":"Almeida","year":"2022","journal-title":"Humanities and Social Sciences Communications"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"310","DOI":"10.3389\/fbioe.2020.00310","article-title":"Regulation of Synthetic Biology: Developments Under the Convention on Biological Diversity and Its Protocols","volume":"8","author":"Keiper","year":"2020","journal-title":"Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r33","unstructured":"33. See Memi, supra note 14."},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1186\/s41073-019-0064-8","article-title":"SANRA \u2014 A Scale for the Quality Assessment of Narrative Review Articles","volume":"4","author":"Baethge","year":"2019","journal-title":"Research Integrity and Peer Review"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r47","volume-title":"Human Genome Editing: Science, Ethics, and Governance","year":"2017"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9","DOI":"10.1017\/S0963180118000336","article-title":"Why We Should Defend Gene Editing as Eugenics","volume":"28","author":"Agar","year":"2019","journal-title":"Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r11","first-page":"e31927","article-title":"Ethical Perspectives of Therapeutic Human Genome Editing From Multiple and Diverse Viewpoints: A Scoping Review","volume":"14","author":"Joseph","year":"2022","journal-title":"Cureus"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r58","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1089\/hum.2023.157"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-018-05843-9"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r52","unstructured":"52. Id."},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r22","unstructured":"22. See Joseph, supra note 11."},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2105\/AJPH.2023.307315"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r23","unstructured":"23. See Cribbs, supra note 13; See Memi, supra note 18; See Mandrioli, supra note 19; See Lorenzo, supra note 20."},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r50","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"429","DOI":"10.1038\/s41576-022-00455-y","article-title":"Sociotechnical Safeguards for Genomic Data Privacy","volume":"23","author":"Wan","year":"2022","journal-title":"Nature Reviews Genetics"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"313","DOI":"10.1007\/s11569-022-00425-y","article-title":"Ethics and Genomic Editing Using the CRISPR-Cas9 Technique: Challenges and Conflicts","volume":"16","author":"Lorenzo","year":"2022","journal-title":"NanoEthics"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r51","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1134\/S0006297922080090"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r30","unstructured":"30. See Joseph, supra note 11; Cribbs, supra note 13; Shinwari, supra note 15; Ayano\u011flu, supra note 17."},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"53","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ddtec.2018.01.001","article-title":"The Multiplexed CRISPR Targeting Platforms","volume":"28","author":"Cao","year":"2018","journal-title":"Drug Discovery Today: Technologies"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"13","DOI":"10.3390\/biom12010013","article-title":"Genome Editing Among Bioethics and Regulatory Practices","volume":"12","author":"Mandrioli","year":"2021","journal-title":"Biomolecules"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r45","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.15252\/embr.201541337"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2281","DOI":"10.1038\/nprot.2013.143","article-title":"Genome Engineering Using the CRISPR-Cas9 System","volume":"8","author":"Ran","year":"2013","journal-title":"Nature Protocols"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r56","first-page":"2","volume-title":"Heritable Human Genome Editing","year":"2020"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/1364557032000119616"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r57","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/15265161.2023.2207502"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r54","volume-title":"Human Genome Editing: Recommendations","year":"2021"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"88","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jmb.2018.05.044","article-title":"CRISPR Ethics: Moral Considerations for Applications of a Powerful Tool","volume":"431","author":"Brokowski","year":"2019","journal-title":"Journal of Molecular Biology"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r59","unstructured":"59. Genome Editing and Human Reproduction: Social and Ethical Issues\u00a0(The Nuffield Council on Bioethics, 2018), https:\/\/www.nuffieldbioethics.org\/publication\/genome-editing-and-human-reproduction-social-and-ethical-issues\/ (last visited March 2, 2025)."},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r49","volume-title":"The Future of Human Nature\u00a0(Polity Press in association with","author":"Habermas","year":"2003"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5070\/L5371043641"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5855","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-021-26097-y","article-title":"Whole Chromosome Loss and Genomic Instability in Mouse Embryos After CRISPR-Cas9 Genome Editing","volume":"12","author":"Papathanasiou","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nature Communications"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"119711","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biomaterials.2019.119711","article-title":"Ex Vivo Cell-Based CRISPR\/Cas9 Genome Editing for Therapeutic Applications","volume":"234","author":"Li","year":"2020","journal-title":"Biomaterials"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"657981","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2021.657981","article-title":"The Challenge of CRISPR-Cas Toward Bioethics","volume":"12","author":"Gonzalez-Avila","year":"2021","journal-title":"Frontiers in Microbiology"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r44","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1515\/9781400836383"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r46","unstructured":"46. See Greely, supra note 37."},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r36","unstructured":"36. See Mojica, supra note 2."},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"110","DOI":"10.3906\/biy-1912-52","article-title":"Bioethical Issues in Genome Editing by CRISPR-Cas9 Technology","volume":"44","author":"Ayano\u011flu","year":"2020","journal-title":"Turkish Journal of Biology"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r41","unstructured":"41. See Joseph, supra note 11; Almeida, supra note 21."},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"453","DOI":"10.1007\/s40259-023-00610-9","article-title":"Base Editing and Prime Editing: Potential Therapeutic Options for Rare and Common Diseases","volume":"37","author":"Testa","year":"2023","journal-title":"BioDrugs"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"17","DOI":"10.1038\/d41586-020-01906-4","article-title":"CRISPR Gene Editing in Human Embryos Wreaks Chromosomal Mayhem","volume":"583","author":"Ledford","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"111","DOI":"10.1093\/jlb\/lsz010","article-title":"CRISPR\u2019d Babies: Human Germline Genome Editing in the \u2018He Jiankui Affair\u2019","volume":"6","author":"Greely","year":"2019","journal-title":"Journal of Law and the Biosciences"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r24","first-page":"667","article-title":"CRISPR, Patents, and the Public Health","volume":"90","author":"Sherkow","year":"2017","journal-title":"Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r55","volume-title":"Human Genome Editing: A Framework for Governance","year":"2021"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2150","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apsb.2021.05.020","article-title":"In Vivo Delivery of CRISPR-Cas9 Therapeutics: Progress and Challenges","volume":"11","author":"Behr","year":"2021","journal-title":"Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"435","DOI":"10.1038\/d41586-018-03270-w","article-title":"A Global Observatory for Gene Editing","volume":"555","author":"Jasanoff","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r27","unstructured":"27. See Cribbs, supra note 13; Memi, supra note 14; Shinwari, supra note 15; Brokowski, supra note 16; Mandrioli, supra note 18; Lorenzo, supra note 20; Almeida, supra note 21."},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"733","DOI":"10.1099\/mic.0.023960-0","article-title":"Short Motif Sequences Determine the Targets of the Prokaryotic CRISPR Defence System","volume":"155","author":"Mojica","year":"2009","journal-title":"Microbiology"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r10","first-page":"163","article-title":"The Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewers\u2019 Manual 2015","volume":"2015","author":"Peters","journal-title":"Methodology for JBI Scoping Reviews"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"822","DOI":"10.1038\/nbt.2623","article-title":"High-Frequency Off-Target Mutagenesis Induced by CRISPR-Cas Nucleases in Human Cells","volume":"31","author":"Fu","year":"2013","journal-title":"Nature Biotechnology"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r13","first-page":"625","article-title":"Science and Bioethics of CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Editing: An Analysis Towards Separating Facts and Fiction","volume":"90","author":"Cribbs","year":"2017","journal-title":"Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r48","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.molmed.2015.05.006"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r43","volume-title":"Our Grandchildren Redesigned: Life in the Bioengineered Society of the Near Future","author":"Bess","year":"2016"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"o2858","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.o2858","article-title":"FDA Approves $3.5M Gene Therapy for Adults With Haemophilia B","volume":"379","author":"Tanne","year":"2022","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s11019-017-9793-y"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1053\/j.semperi.2018.09.003"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103","DOI":"10.21775\/cimb.026.103","article-title":"Ethical Issues Regarding CRISPR-Mediated Genome Editing","volume":"26","author":"Shinwari","year":"2018","journal-title":"Current Issues in Molecular Biology"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e264","DOI":"10.1038\/mtna.2015.37","article-title":"Off-Target Effects in CRISPR\/Cas9-Mediated Genome Engineering","volume":"4","author":"Zhang","year":"2015","journal-title":"Molecular Therapy \u2013 Nucleic Acids"},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r35","unstructured":"35. See Brokowski, supra note 16; Ayano\u011flu, supra note 17; Gonzalez-Avila, supra note 19."},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r53","unstructured":"53. See Gostimskaya, supra note 51; Campbell, M. , \u201cBroad Institute Wins CRISPR Patent Case,\u201d\u00a0Technology Networks, https:\/\/www.technologynetworks.com\/genomics\/news\/broad-institute-wins-crispr-patent-case-359160 (last visited August 15, 2023); W. Isaacson and S. Durand,\u00a0The Code Breaker \u2014 Young Readers Edition: Jennifer Doudna and the Race to Understand Our Genetic Code\u00a0(Simon & Schuster, 2022)."},{"key":"S1073110525000488_r29","unstructured":"29. Id."}],"container-title":["Journal of Law, Medicine &amp; Ethics"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/services\/aop-cambridge-core\/content\/view\/S1073110525000488","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,17]],"date-time":"2025-06-17T14:45:23Z","timestamp":1750171523000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/product\/identifier\/S1073110525000488\/type\/journal_article"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025]]},"references-count":59,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025]]}},"alternative-id":["S1073110525000488"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/jme.2025.48","relation":{},"ISSN":["1073-1105","1748-720X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1073-1105","type":"print"},{"value":"1748-720X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025]]}}}