On this edition of Midday on Ethics, Dr. Jeffrey Kahn stops by Studio A to discuss human gene editing and some of the ethical questions that surround its implementation. Dr. Kahn is director of the Johns Hopkins Berman Center of Bioethics. We also take a look at some of the first successful gene therapies, including one that the FDA recently approved for the first time in its history.
The approved therapy is aimed at adults and some children with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a common form of the disease. It involves genetically modifying immune cells from a patient’s blood and then infusing them back into the same patient.
Dr. Kahn also addresses listener questions and comments.