RAC reborn as NExTRAC to advise NIH on safety, ethics of emerging technologies

After decades of waxing and waning authority over recombinant DNA and gene therapies, NIH's 45-year-old Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee is ending its reviews of individual clinical protocols and turning toward broader evaluation of newer technologies with ethical and safety concerns, including gene editing and synthetic biology.

In its role advising the NIH director on research involving these technologies, the newly christened Novel and Exceptional Technology and Research Advisory Committee (NExTRAC) could help answer calls for standards and transparency in controversial fields...