A new US company, Preventive, announced significant private funding to research heritable genome editing with the stated goal of assessing safety and responsible practice for editing embryos. The venture aims to study whether heritable edits could prevent disease, emphasizing research rather than immediate clinical deployment. The announcement reignites ethical and regulatory debates: heritable human genome editing remains illegal in many jurisdictions and carries broad societal implications. The startup’s formation signals investor appetite for boundary‑pushing biotech but also underscores the need for international norms, transparent oversight, and engagement with mainstream scientific and ethics communities.