This whole situation reminds me of the atomic bomb scientists.
The night before the first A bomb test the scientists were up all night debating just how dangerous the bomb would be to the atmosphere.
Some of them had run some numbers and were convinced it would ignite the entire Earth’s atmosphere and kill everyone on the planet.
But—the consensus was that more research was needed so might as well test it.
Boom!
Science, yo.
Very close to the truth. The generation who as young scientists/grad students in the mid-late 90s developed these gene editing tools, who thought they would usher in a new era of miracle medicine and immortality have now gone grey. They feel their life’s purpose passed them by. Some of them feel the biggest obstacle is the clinical trial process, and some have been vocal about this. This was their big chance to breach the obstacle, bring this tech mainstream and open the doors... really opening Pandora’s box, because there are still far too many unknowns. I have no issue with limited voluntary trials, but mandating this is madness.