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ByLisaLererand Catherine Lucey The Associated Press MOUNT VERNON, IOWA Hillary Clinton declared her opposition to the Trans- Pacific Partnership trade accord on Wednesday, her most significant break with President Barack Obama since launching her cam- paign for the Democratic presidential nomination. "I think there are still a lot of unanswered ques- tions," she said of the big trade deal in an interview with PBS' "Newshour." "As of today, I am not in fa- vor of what I have learned about it." Her push-back against the chief economic proposal of Obama's second term is a blow to the president, un- dermining his arguments to Congress as the White House is in the final stretch of winning approval of a deal years in the making. Clinton joins the rest of the Democratic field in challenging a trade pact that's enraged the labor unions, environmentalists and other liberal constitu- encies whose support will be crucial to her electoral success. Her position on the agreement also marks a striking reversal for the former secretary of state, who promoted the deal in dozens of appearances dur- ing Obama's first term in office. During a 2012 trip to Australia, she called it the "gold standard in trade agreements." In the interview, she said the agreement does not meet her standard for creating jobs, raising wages and protecting national se- curity. Clinton raised spe- cific concerns about a po- tential for currency ma- nipulation by China and provisions that she said would benefit pharmaceu- tical companies at the ex- pense of patients. "I don't believe it's going to meet the high bar I have set," she said. The united opposition from the Democratic pres- idential field leaves Obama in the uncomfortable posi- tion of watching a Demo- cratic debate next week in which none of the major candidates is willing to de- fend a deal that the White House sees as a key piece of his presidential legacy. Obama and many Re- publican lawmakers favor the accord, saying it will greatly help the U.S. econ- omy by boosting exports of American products. Clinton's campaign and the Obama administra- tion have always said the time would come when she would outline her own pol- icies and deliver criticisms, implied and direct, of the president. "I am not running for my husband's third term or President Obama's third term," Clinton told vot- ers in Davenport, Iowa, on Tuesday, repeating a fre- quent line from her cam- paign speeches. "I'm run- ning for my first term." Last month, she came out against the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry oil from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast; the ad- ministration remains un- decided. In August, she said Obama's decision to ap- prove offshore drilling in the Arctic wasn't "worth the risk" to the environ- ment. She subtly resur- rected her 2008 primary attack of Obama's approach to world affairs, taking a more hawkish stance to- ward Russia, Syria and Iran. And she's promised to work to repeal the "Ca- dillac tax," a tax on high- cost employer-sponsored insurance that the Obama administration says is nec- essary to fund the health care law. On both immigration and gun control, she has also pledged to use execu- tive power as president to do more than Obama. On immigration, she cited Obama's deporta- tion policy this week and said, "I'm not going to be breaking up families. And I think that is one of the dif- ferences." Still, she added, "I to- tally understand why the Obama administration felt as though they did what they did under the circum- stances." Campaign veterans in the White House say the impact of Clinton's depar- tures from Obama policies are minor and they dismiss some of her proposals as routine campaign fod- der. Candidates use policy plans to declare their pri- orities. Worries over prac- tical implementation come later. Clinton aides know she must tread lightly when it comes to criticizing Obama, given that much of her strategy relies on the still-loyal coalition of Afri- can-Americans, Latinos, women and younger voters that twice elected Obama. But at the same time, they say she must find ways to distinguish herself — and undercut Republican at- tacks that Clinton would simply provide a third Obama term. Many of Clinton's top aides joined her campaign from the White House and the two staffs remain in frequent communication. Before Clinton an- nounced her opposition to the Keystone pipeline and gun proposals, cam- paign staff alerted the White House. After Obama last week appeared to de- ride her proposal for a no- fly zone over Syria, aides called to make sure Clin- ton understood the criti- cism wasn't aimed at her, according to a senior White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conver- sations. The White House doesn't deny that Clinton's new dis- tance has sometimes cre- ated awkwardness for the president. TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP Clintonopposestradedeal in major break with Obama By Lauran Neergaard The Associated Press WASHINGTON The hottest tool in biology has scientists using words like revolution- ary as they describe the long-term potential: wip- ing out certain mosquitoes that carry malaria, treating genetic diseases like sickle- cell, preventing babies from inheriting a life-threaten- ing disorder. It may sound sci-fi, but research into genome edit- ing is booming. So is a de- bate about its boundaries, what's safe and what's eth- ical to try in the quest to fight disease. Does the promise war- rant experimenting with human embryos? Research- ers in China already have, and they're poised to in Britain. Should we change peo- ple's genes in a way that passes traits to future gen- erations? Beyond medicine, what about the environmen- tal effects if, say, altered mosquitoes escape before we know how to use them? "We need to try to get the balance right," said Uni- versity of California, Berke- ley, biochemist Jennifer Doudna. She helped develop new gene-editing technol- ogy and hears from desper- ate families, but urges cau- tion in how it's eventually used in people. The U.S. National Acade- miesofScience,Engineering and Medicine will bring in- ternational scientists, ethi- cists and regulators together in December to start deter- mining that balance. The biggest debate is whether it ever will be appropriate to alter human heredity by ed- iting an embryo's genes. "This isn't a conversation on a cloud," but something that families battling dev- astating rare diseases may want, Dr. George Daley of Boston Children's Hospi- tal told specialists meeting this week to plan the eth- ics summit. "There will be a drive to move this forward." Laboratories worldwide are embracing a technology to precisely edit genes inside living cells — turning them off or on, repairing or mod- ifying them — like a biolog- ical version of cut-and-paste software. Researchers are building stronger immune cells, fighting muscular dys- trophy in mice, and growing human-like organs in pigs for possible transplant. Bio- tech companies have raised millions to develop thera- pies for sickle cell disease and other disorders. The technique has a wonky name — CRISPR- Cas9 — and a humble be- ginning. Doudna was studying how bacteria recognize and disable viral invaders, using a protein she calls "a ge- netic scalpel" to slice DNA. That system turned out to be programmable, she re- ported in 2012, letting sci- entists target virtually any gene in many species using a tailored CRISPR recipe. There are older methods to edit genes, including one that led to an experimental treatment for the AIDS vi- rus, but the CRISPR tech- nique is faster and cheaper, and allows altering of mul- tiple genes simultaneously. "It's transforming almost every aspect of biology right now," said National Insti- tutes of Health genomics specialist Shawn Burgess. CRISPR's biggest use has nothing to do with human embryos. Scientists are en- gineering animals with hu- man-like disorders more easily than ever before, to learn to fix genes gone awry and test potential drugs. Engineering rodents to harbor autism-related genes once took a year. It takes weeks with CRISPR, said bioengineer Feng Zhang of the Broad Institute at MIT and Harvard, who also helped develop, and pat- ented, the CRISPR tech- nique. (Doudna's university is challenging the patent.) A peek inside an NIH lab shows how it works. Re- searchers inject a CRISPR- guided molecule into micro- scopic mouse embryos, to cause a gene mutation that a doctor suspects of causing a patient's mysterious dis- order. The embryos will be implanted into female mice that wake up from the pro- cedure in warm blankets to a treat of fresh oranges. How the resulting mouse babies fare will help deter- mine the gene defect's role. Experts predict the first attempt to treat people will be for blood-related diseases such as sickle cell, caused by a single gene de- fect that's easy to reach. The idea is to use CRISPR in a way similar to a bone mar- row transplant, but to cor- rect someone's own blood- producing cells rather than implanting donated ones. HEALTH Gene editing: Research spurs debate over promise vs. ethics CHARLIENEIBERGALL—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton reacts to a supporter before speaking at a community forum Tuesday in Davenport, Iowa. By David Mchugh and Geir Moulson The Associated Press WOLFSBURG, GERMANY Volkswagen said a recall of cars with software that can be used to evade emissions tests could start in Ger- many in January and last until the end of next year. The recall does not yet include cars in the U.S., where the scandal engulf- ing the world's largest car- maker erupted. Any re- call there will have to be approved by the Environ- mental Protection Agency, which disclosed the rigging last month, and the Califor- nia Air Resources Board. Confirmation of the planned launch date of the recall of 2.8 million cars in Germany came in an inter- view with VW CEO Mat- thias Mueller published Wednesday in the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. In it, he said many of the cars being recalled won't need much fixing, merely requiring an adjustment to software. Others though may require mechanical fixes such as new injectors or catalyzers. He said that "care goes before speed" and that if ev- erything goes "as planned, we can start the recall in January." "All the cars should be in order by the end of 2016," he added. Mueller also said first re- sults of the investigation in- dicatedthatafewdevelopers were responsible for the de- ceptive engine control soft- ware — but that only further investigation would settle how many company officials bear responsibility for the scandal that has engulfed the German carmaker. Mueller, who became CEO less than two weeks ago following the resigna- tion of his predecessor Mar- tin Winterkorn in the wake of the disclosure of the emission-test rigging, said the automaker may need to set up temporary special- ist workshops to deal with more complex cases. He said VW will have to fix the EA 189 diesel en- gines "in combination with various transmissions and country-specific designs. So we don't need three so- lutions, but thousands." Volkswagen has said up to 11 million vehicles world- wide across several of its brands contain the diesel engine with the software used to cheat on U.S. emis- sions tests. "It will hopefully be fewer, but in any case still far too many," he was quoted as saying. The company has set aside 6.5 billion euros ($7.3 billion) to deal with costs related to the scandal. Mueller said that "accord- ing to current information, a few developers interfered in the engine management." He said top executives would not have involved themselves in the intrica- cies of engine software. But when asked if that meant there was no larger circle of fraudulent behav- ior, he said the company was "now clarifying the re- sponsibilities in detail" and that "thoroughness comes before speed." The company has sus- pended four individuals re- sponsible for engine devel- opment and hired U.S. law firm Jones Day to conduct an investigation. On Wednesday, Volkswa- gen also elected longtime company executive Hans Dieter Poetsch as board chairman. Poetsch, until now the chief financial of- ficer, was nominated at the beginning of September be- fore the scandal broke. RECALL VW CEO: Emissions fixes could take until the end of next year CAILEY COTNER — UC BERKELEY Jennifer Doudna, right, and her lab manager, Kai Hong, work in her laboratory in Berkeley. | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2015 6 B