Jeffrey Kahn, Director of the Berman Institute of Bioethics at Johns Hopkins University, joined Minnesota Public Radio host Kerri Miller today to discuss innovations in gene editing and the consequences that must be considered as it moves into clinical application. New tools like CRISPR are much more targeted than past gene therapies; molecular biology now allows the precoding of both the material and the location affected by genetic change. This raises thorny ethical questions: could these techniques go beyond curing diseases to creating genetic enhancements that could make someone stronger or faster? Could gene editing be used to advance eugenics, by making it possible to change someone's skin color? Will the benefits be widely available, or only help the wealthy and powerful? What does it mean to disabled if we have the ability to wipe out conditions like Down syndrome? Rapid advancements in gene therapy and the development of technologies that are more powerful than originally expected means carefully considered policy and clinical approaches must be put in place. Listen to the whole conversation here. Before joining Johns Hopkins, Prof. Kahn was Director of the Center for Bioethics at University of Minnesota.