A group of scientists are pursuing international cooperation in human embryo editing.

 Pei Duanqing with the Guangzhou institute of biomedicine and health of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and nine other scientists published an article in the latest online issue of Stem Cell, a subsidiary of the academic journal Cell, discussing the importance of sharing human embryo editing technology.

 In light of recent editing developments, scientists and stakeholders from all nations should cooperate in this historic opportunity for medicine and basic human biology, the article said.

 Altering human genomic DNA is not a new concept, but CRISPR methods are game changing. The efficiency and accuracy of CRISPR gene editing uncovers new areas that were previously inaccessible, Pei explained.

 The scientists called for an international cooperative structure or consortium to allow problems to be tackled jointly and for data to be analyzed and shared collaboratively. (Xinhua)