Table of Contents
What are the ethical issues that are being talked about in genetic engineering?
Ethical Considerations
- Safety. Due to the possibility of off-target effects (edits in the wrong place) and mosaicism (when some cells carry the edit but others do not), safety is of primary concern.
- Informed Consent.
- Justice and Equity.
- Genome-Editing Research Involving Embryos.
What are ethical concerns when using genome editing in human embryos?
Some of the ethical dilemmas of genome editing in the germline arise from the fact that changes in the genome can be transferred to the next generations. Therapeutic genome editing in somatic cells generally does not cause significant concerns when assessing the risk/benefit balance and the use of informed consent.
What are the ethical concerns about Crispr genome editing technology?
The most contentious issues concerning human germline modifications are the challenges to human safety and morality such as risk of unforeseen, undesirable effects in clinical applications particularly to correct or prevent genetic diseases, matter of informed consent and the risk of exploitation for eugenics.
Why did He Jiankui do his experiment?
An investigating task force set up by the Health Commission of China in Guangdong Province released a preliminary report on January 21, 2019, stated that He Jiankui had defied government bans and conducted the research in the pursuit of personal fame and gain.
What are the risks of CRISPR?
Crispr Gene Editing Can Cause Unwanted Changes in Human Embryos, Study Finds. Instead of addressing genetic mutations, the Crispr machinery prompted cells to lose entire chromosomes.
Who is He Jiankui?
Chinese scientist He Jiankui in a discussion with head of the Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology and Developmental Genetics at the Francis Crick Institute, Robin Lovell-Badge at the Second International Summit on Human Genome Editing in Hong Kong on November 28, 2018.
What happened to He Jiankui’s twin girls?
He Jiankui shocked the world in 2018 when he announced that twin girls Lulu and Nana had been born with modified DNA to make them resistant to HIV, which he had managed using the gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 before birth.
What is he’s experiment with the Chinese genome?
In May 2019, Chinese lawyers reported that, in light of He’s experiment, the drafting of regulations that anyone found manipulating the human genome by genome-editing techniques would be held responsible for any related adverse consequences.
What are the ethical issues with gene editing?
Many people within the scientific community raised ethical concerns, including the level of consent He had obtained from the parents of the babies, and the level of transparency around gene editing.