Legal Risks and Liabilities of Human Gene Editing

In addition to complying with regulatory hurdles, actors engaged in gene editing will face a second set of legal risks—liability. Human gene editing may create unintended adverse effects, which can give rise to potential liability to a variety of parties under a diverse range of causes of action. The unprecedented capabilities of gene editing, in particular the potential for germline modifications, create some novel liability scenarios and issues. This article begins by examining liability risks associated with somatic human gene editing, and then addresses potential liability scenarios for germline gene editing.