Enabling decision-relevant debates about human genome editing

利用CRISPR/Cas-9和其他工具进行基因编辑的最新突破，使科学家能够以比以往更安全、更快速、更有效的方式编辑人类基因组。这项新技术也有可能治愈多达6000种遗传疾病，并改变美国的医疗保健。与此同时，其他潜在的应用也引发了严重的道德和伦理问题。考虑到从医学到国家安全等领域的各种可能应用，人类基因编辑（HGE）的创新将越来越需要公众辩论和社会决策。然而，随着大众对HGE意识的增强，公众对这项技术的讨论可能会产生分歧，从而损害有意义和负责任的发展。在目前围绕转基因生物（GMOs）的争议中，这种结果的潜在可能性是显而易见的，这一问题引发了类似的技术和伦理问题，并导致消费者的行为往往与现有的最佳科学证据不一致。因此，为了鼓励负责任的创新，该项目开发并评估了公众参与模式，以促进具有不同价值观的群体之间关于HGE的有效交流。该项目的研究结果有助于指导关于人类基因组学的更广泛的、正在出现的辩论，并将有助于确保政策和消费者的选择是由现有的最佳科学和公民的价值观和关切共同决定的。为了实现其目标，该项目整合并推进了有关科学和价值政策问题的偏见信息处理的各种理论和研究。特别是，它测试了不同信息和社会环境的潜力，以尽量减少公共辩论中的两极分化。第一阶段使用实验室和调查实验来检验价值观和信息如何共同形成对HGE的看法，并测试减轻信息处理的负面影响的方法，这些信息处理偏向于预先确定的结论。第一阶段的研究结果指导了公共研讨会的实施和评估，该研讨会将汇集包括HGE研究人员在内的各种公众成员，相互交流并讨论该技术。讲习班的见解提供了其他组织可以采用、扩大和应用的具体战略和最佳做法，以促进不同公众的有效参与和健康决策。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Recent breakthroughs in gene editing using CRISPR/Cas-9 and other tools allow scientists to edit the human genome in safer, faster, and more effective ways than ever before. This new technology also has the potential to cure as many as 6,000 genetically-inherited diseases and to transform healthcare in the U.S. At the same time, other potential applications have raised serious moral and ethical concerns. Given the wide variety of possible applications in fields ranging from medicine to national security, innovations in human gene editing (HGE) will increasingly necessitate public debate and societal decision making. However, as popular awareness of HGE grows, public discussions of the technology have the potential to become divisive in ways that could compromise meaningful and responsible development. The potential for this outcome is visible in controversies currently surrounding genetically modified organisms (GMOs), an issue that raises similar technical and ethical questions, and which has led to consumer behavior that is often at odds with the best available scientific evidence. Thus, to encourage responsible innovation, this project develops and evaluates public engagement modalities that facilitate the productive exchange of ideas about HGE between groups with different values. The findings from this project help guide broader, emerging debates about HGE and will help ensure that policy and consumer choices are shaped both by the best available science and citizens' values and concerns. To accomplish its goals, this project integrates and advances diverse strands of theory and research on biased information processing concerning science and value-laden policy issues. In particular, it tests the potential for different informational and social environments to minimize polarization in public debate. The first phase uses laboratory and survey experiments to examine how values and information together shape opinions about HGE, and to test approaches for alleviating the negative effects of information processing that is biased toward predetermined conclusions. The findings from the first phase guide implementation and evaluation of a public workshop that will bring together diverse members of the public, including researchers in HGE, to interact with each other and discuss the technology. Insights from the workshop inform concrete strategies and best-practices that other organizations can adapt, scale, and apply to facilitate effective public engagement and healthy decision making across diverse publics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.