Professor Hank Greely comments on the use of gene editing in embryonic testing for The San Jose Mercury News.

In a landmark effort to limit the potential misuse of human “gene editing,” the prestigious National Academy of Sciences on Thursday urged against its current use in embryos and reproductive cells.

“It would be irresponsible to proceed with any clinical use” of embryos or reproductive cells “unless and until the relevant safety and efficacy issues are resolved, and there is broad societal consensus about the appropriateness of the proposed applications,” said biologist David Baltimore of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. A Nobel laureate, Baltimore headed the committee that issued Thursday’s statement.

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Its use in creating pregnancies can be monitored and regulated, said Stanford University School of Law professor and bioethicist Hank Greely, director of Stanford’s Center for Law and the Biosciences.

“If you want to make babies, it is not cheap or simple,” Greely said.

“It is hard to hide” because it requires physicians and in vitro fertilization clinics, which are licensed and regulated, he added.