Introduction: The Minimal Critical Policy Regime

Discussions among scientists, medical professionals, health law experts and leaders of important civil society constituencies suggest three policies as the minimal core of a regime addressing the development and use of the new human genetic technologies:

National and global bans on reproductive human cloning

National and global bans on inheritable genetic modification

Effective, accountable regulation of all other technologies of human genetic modification

Countries should be free to adopt additional and stronger constraints on human genetic technologies if they so choose.

If we are to prevent an escalating and potentially catastrophic spiral of human genetic modification, we will need global bans on both reproductive human cloning and inheritable genetic modification.

The bans need to be global to prevent the establishment of eugenic tourism.

Further, the bans need to be intended to be permanent. Of course, we can't bind the actions of our descendants, and if they wish to repeal these bans they can. But we have the responsibility to make a clear statement, as the human community at this point in history, that we consider human reproductive cloning and inheritable...