It takes a lot to shock a politician. But this is far beyond the pale.
Now a U.S. Senator issued a red alert over something totally egregious.
Cornyn Raises Ethical Concerns Over Embryo Gene Editing
Texas Senator John Cornyn (R) has taken a principled stand against a biotech startup’s pursuit of gene-editing techniques on human embryos, warning of profound moral and societal risks in a pointed letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“All parents want their children to live the healthiest lives possible, but advancing this type of technology would come with grave consequences, intentional or not,” Cornyn wrote.
“Some of life’s questions must be left up to our Creator, not Silicon Valley elites.”
The senator highlighted Preventive PBC, a San Francisco-based firm that has raised around $30 million from investors including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, for its work toward editing embryos to prevent hereditary diseases—despite federal restrictions on such research.
Safeguarding Life and Preventing Eugenics Risks
Cornyn emphasized the dangers of CRISPR-based embryo editing potentially leading to “designer children” and a resurgence of eugenics practices.
“While some will argue that the goal of genetically editing embryos is only to prevent genetic diseases in babies before they are even born, we must also acknowledge the real risk that such a technology will lead to ‘designer children,’” he warned.
“Scientific advancement cannot devolve into evil and immoral eugenic practices. Efforts to improve embryos will also lead to the impulse to destroy embryos, human life, who do not possess the full measure of these preferred traits.”
He noted longstanding congressional bans on federal funding for genetic modification of human embryos and FDA prohibitions on reviewing related human trials, while praising ethical gene therapies for treating conditions like sickle cell disease in existing patients.
“Gene therapy technology has the potential to open doors to life-changing and life-saving measures for children and adults otherwise suffering from terrible conditions, like sickle cell disease, neuromuscular diseases, and certain cancers,” Cornyn stressed.
“However, these types of therapies must be differentiated from embryonic gene editing.”
Demanding Accountability from HHS
In his letter, Cornyn called on HHS to confirm that companies like Preventive are fully complying with U.S. laws and to detail enforcement measures.
The company insists its current work is limited to laboratory research for safety evaluation, not human applications.
“Our focus is exclusively on laboratory research to evaluate the safety of these technologies, and we are not involved in any application with human patients,” co-founder Lucas Harrington told the New York Post.
“We are in compliance with all applicable regulations. We believe gene correction, if demonstrated to be safe, should be focused on preventing severe disease.”
Preventive’s website vows not to advance to clinical use until safety is assured: “We will not compromise safety standards to accelerate timelines.”
However, reports indicate the firm has explored jurisdictions more permissive toward embryo editing, and only three known children worldwide have been born from edited embryos—created controversially by a Chinese scientist who was later imprisoned.
Cornyn’s vigilant oversight underscores a commitment to protecting human dignity amid rapid technological advances.
