Heritable human genome editing and the politics of law: the South African case study

Heritable human genome editing (HHGE) has emerged as one of the most contested frontiers of bioscience, where law is mobilized as a political instrument. This article uses South Africa as a case study in the politics of law in HHGE governance, showing how even a substantively strong regulatory framework can collapse when procedurally fragile and politically contested. The National Health Research Ethics Council's 2024 guidelines established a regulated pathway for HHGE research and anticipated the eventual possibility of clinical application. The guidelines were aligned with constitutional rights and contained various ethical safeguards. Yet their adoption was procedurally weak: consultation was confined to research ethics committees, excluding broader scientific and public engagement. This lack of participatory legitimacy left the guidelines vulnerable. Critics seized on the fact that the guidelines contemplated children being born with edited genomes, collapsing anticipation into permission. These critiques were amplified by institutional actors, culminating in the repeal of the guidelines in 2025 and their replacement with an indefinite placeholder. The South African case highlights a lesson of global significance: that the governance of HHGE, and of emerging biotechnologies more broadly, depends not only on substantive ethical safeguards but also on inclusive procedures that can withstand political contestation.