In its first meeting, a carefully chosen advisory committee of experts on gene editing under the World Health Organization this week agreed on the immediate need for a global registry of research that funders should make binding for researchers. The group acknowledged an urgency in addressing human gene editing governance in light of work already taking place, but stopped short of calling for a moratorium at this time, instead issuing a statement that it would be "irresponsible" for anyone to proceed with such research now. Continue reading ->
A new report released today by the World Health Organization and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) found that while overall tuberculosis (TB) mortality and incidence rates have steadily fallen in the European region over the past decade, the disease should not be “underestimated.” The report warns that these rates are not sufficient to reach global targets for reducing the disease, further noting that while the European region may have only 2.8 percent of the world’s TB burden, it has 23 percent of the world’s burden of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB). Continue reading ->