Der Keimbahneingriff de lege lata und de lege ferenda

Genome editing remains risk-laden despite technological advances, yet offers significant medical potential. A differentiation between germline therapy, enhancement, and research is essential. The current legal framework, which imposes a blanket prohibition, ensures legal certainty but only inadequately reflects technological developments. From a criminal law perspective, the key point is that enhancement and the deliberate creation of embryos for research purposes are both deserving of punishment and in need of criminal sanction, as they constitute socio-ethical wrongdoing and less intrusive measures are insufficient. Germline therapy, by contrast, is neither deserving of punishment nor in need of criminalization. There is a need for reform in the form of differentiated regulation.