Australia was at the cutting edge in the development of Artificial Reproductive Technology in the 1960s and 1970s. Regulatory responses were piecemeal: only a small number of the six states and two territories enacted legislation. The regulatory response to reproductive cloning and embryonic stem cell research has been more uniform, with nationally consistent legislation in the form of the Prohibition of Human Cloning for Reproduction Act 2002 and the Research Involving Human Embryos Act 2002, together with the Gene Technology Act 2000. This regulatory regime creates a prohibitory environment for germline genome therapy in Australia and provides little scope for genome editing research involving human embryos, even under licence. This chapter discusses the Australian regulatory regime, with particular focus on this triad of legislative instruments. Although Australia has made a commitment to science and health, and recognition of the right to found a family, the special status of the embryo is a paramount consideration. This chapter concludes that, as in many other countries, Australia is at a crossroads, and Australians must decide, collectively, how far genome editing research involving human embryos should be allowed to progress.

Belgium regulates research on human embryos, including germline modification, mainly through the 2003 Law regarding Research on Embryos In Vitro and the 2007 Law regarding Medically Assisted Reproduction and the Disposition of Embryos and Gametes. It allows the creation of embryos for research when the research goal cannot be reached by research on supernumerary embryos. The lawmaker only recognizes a gradual difference between embryos created for reproduction and later used for research and embryos specifically created for research purposes. The general rule in research is that no research can be performed for eugenic goals, i.e., selection or improvement of non-pathological characteristics of the human species. Everything that is not prohibited by the law is allowed. The conclusion, supported by the parliamentary debate, is that germline genome editing is permitted for corrective purposes (meaning elimination or correction of genetic diseases), if approval of the local ethics committee and the Federal Commission on scientific research on embryos in vitro is obtained.