"The research has progressed so rapidly with gene drive that we are now at a point when we really need to take a step back and think about the application of it and how it will impact humanity," said Akbari, the senior author of the article and an associate professor in the UC San Diego Division of Biological Sciences. "The new commitments that address field trials are to ensure that the trials are safely implemented, transparent, publicly accountable and scientifically, politically and socially robust."
A multidisciplinary group of gene drive organism developers, ecologists and con¬servation biologists joined experts in social science, ethics and policy to outline several commitments that they deem "critical for responsible conduct of a field trial and to ensure that these technologies, if they are introduced, serve the public interest." Twelve core commitments were developed under the following broad categories: fair partnership and transparency; product efficacy and safety; regulatory evaluation and risk/benefit assessment; and monitoring and mitigation.
https://phys.org/news/2020-12-scientists-path-field-trials-gene.html