Sind wir bereit, Krebs zu heilen?

researchers began extracting T-cells from cancer patients, editing out the genes that dampen their cancer-killing abilities (like PD-1), and then re-injecting them back into the body to fight cancer more aggressively. In some trials, this method has shown remarkable results, especially in blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma.

It doesn’t stop there. CRISPR has been used to knock out genes that make tumors resistant to chemotherapy. It’s been used to insert genes that help immune cells find and stick to cancer cells. And in some experimental setups, it’s even been used to correct single-letter mutations in cancer cells — errors in the DNA that started the cancer in the first place.

But of course, science moves faster than policy. And while the technology is accelerating, regulation is struggling to keep pace.

One route forward is differentiated regulation. Treat germline edits the way aviation treats supersonic passenger flights. Ban them until technology and governance can prove airtight, then relax the regulations. Similarly, governments can fast-track somatic trials for lethal diseases under a compassionate use framework (which allows experimental treatments for patients with no other options), but bake in guardrails such as long-term registries that track patients or a public data ledger so that labs learn collectively rather than in solitude.