is loading.
Current Time 0:00
Duration 0:00
1x

Audio Transcript Auto-generated

  • 00:00 - 00:03

    the ethical challenges of gene editing by Emmett Pennington Guthrie

  • 00:04 - 00:08

    consent. The first ethical issue to be considered with regards

  • 00:08 - 00:09

    to gene editing is that of consent.

  • 00:10 - 00:14

    The overlying problem here is something called informed consent, which

  • 00:14 - 00:17

    refers to the necessity of explaining the parents everything about

  • 00:17 - 00:20

    the technology, as Erica johnson puts it in her article

  • 00:21 - 00:25

    informed consent for human embryo, genome editing, informed consent for

  • 00:25 - 00:28

    a study employing genome editing and implantation of embryos will

  • 00:29 - 00:32

    pose significant challenges, not the least of which will be

  • 00:32 - 00:33

    explaining the science itself.

  • 00:34 - 00:36

    It must be communicated that as an experimental technology.

  • 00:37 - 00:38

    The risks are incompletely known.

  • 00:39 - 00:42

    It's not seen as acceptable to allow uninformed parents to

  • 00:42 - 00:45

    have the technology used on their Children, and for ethical

  • 00:46 - 00:48

    reasons, it is necessary to ensure parents are communicated honestly

  • 00:49 - 00:50

    with about gene editing.

  • 00:51 - 00:52

    This is one of the more clear cut ethical issues

  • 00:53 - 00:55

    around gene editing, but it has to be considered because

  • 00:56 - 00:58

    if ignored, it poses the risk of allowing gene editing

  • 00:59 - 01:03

    technology to cause harm to unwitting victims equality.

  • 01:04 - 01:07

    One of the biggest ethical qualms about gene editing, regards

  • 01:07 - 01:10

    equality of its use as minorities and the poor may

  • 01:10 - 01:13

    not have equal access to the technology when or if

  • 01:13 - 01:17

    it seeds wider use in justice and CRISPR slash CAS

  • 01:17 - 01:20

    nine Research and clinical applications by Clara Hildebrandt and Jonathan

  • 01:21 - 01:24

    Marron. It's pointed out that, quote, minority groups in the

  • 01:24 - 01:29

    United States have repeatedly experienced unequal and unethical treatment in

  • 01:29 - 01:32

    research end, quote, this has led to problems such as

  • 01:32 - 01:36

    underrepresentation of minorities and genetic databases and to this day,

  • 01:36 - 01:39

    minorities suffer worse health outcomes across the US.

  • 01:40 - 01:41

    It's feared that the use of genetic thing will further

  • 01:42 - 01:46

    disadvantaged minorities because of ongoing problems with health outcomes and

  • 01:46 - 01:47

    lower access to good treatment.

  • 01:48 - 01:51

    Which raises concerns that minorities wouldn't get the access they

  • 01:51 - 01:53

    deserve to gene editing technology in the future.

  • 01:55 - 01:57

    This is further supported by the low representation of minorities

  • 01:58 - 02:00

    and genetic databases, which may make it harder in the

  • 02:01 - 02:03

    future for gene editing to be effective for minority populations.

  • 02:04 - 02:07

    As there's less understanding of genetic diseases in these groups.

  • 02:08 - 02:10

    In order to ethically use gene editing technologies.

  • 02:11 - 02:13

    One of the hurdles is providing access to those who

  • 02:13 - 02:17

    need it equally and without considering racial minorities, this becomes

  • 02:18 - 02:22

    an impossible step eugenics here, I've put a comic in

  • 02:23 - 02:25

    that I thought made the concerns of eugenics and gene

  • 02:25 - 02:27

    editing clearer the gist of it, being that there's no

  • 02:27 - 02:30

    one correct ideal human and that it isn't right to

  • 02:31 - 02:33

    let our biased selves steam certain humans better than others.

  • 02:35 - 02:38

    The dangers outlined by robert ran ish in eugenics is

  • 02:38 - 02:41

    back historic references in current discussions of Germline gene editing

  • 02:42 - 02:45

    are considered to be quote, the impact on succeeding generations,

  • 02:46 - 02:47

    as well as non therapeutic applications.

  • 02:48 - 02:51

    End, quote in particular, this is feared to lead to

  • 02:51 - 02:53

    dangers such as quote discrimination and uniformity.

  • 02:54 - 02:54

    End quote.

  • 02:55 - 02:58

    In essence, gene editing is seen as a potential means

  • 02:58 - 02:59

    for eugenics to occur.

  • 03:00 - 03:03

    And with it all the ethical issues that arise with

  • 03:03 - 03:05

    that in mind, it's clear that the ethics of the

  • 03:05 - 03:08

    application of gene editing technology need to be carefully considered

  • 03:09 - 03:10

    before its use becomes widespread.

  • 03:12 - 03:16

    Safety. DDT was a chemical with unintended consequences that made

  • 03:16 - 03:18

    it dangerous despite its usefulness as a pesticide.

  • 03:19 - 03:21

    And it's a great example of the harm that can

  • 03:21 - 03:24

    arise from not understanding everything about a scientific development.

  • 03:25 - 03:28

    Gene editing is feared to have unknown side effects with

  • 03:28 - 03:31

    the potential to harm humans, such as quote off target

  • 03:32 - 03:33

    mutations that raise the specter of cancer.

  • 03:34 - 03:37

    End quote as lisa Rosenbaum states in the future of

  • 03:37 - 03:41

    genetic towards scientific and social consensus as it isn't yet

  • 03:41 - 03:44

    fully understood stood what dangers might arise from gene editing

  • 03:45 - 03:46

    and particularly heritable genetics.

  • 03:47 - 03:50

    There's an ongoing ethical debate around whether the benefits of

  • 03:50 - 03:53

    gene editing, such as the removal of inherited genetic problems

  • 03:54 - 03:55

    outweigh the potential harms.

  • 03:56 - 03:58

    Given that the level of risk isn't yet fully understood.

  • 03:59 - 04:02

    It's difficult to assess the risk reward balance and some

  • 04:02 - 04:04

    even ask the question of whether we should wait until

  • 04:04 - 04:07

    the technology is known to be completely safe before we

  • 04:07 - 04:08

    take any risk at all.

  • 04:09 - 04:11

    As Rosenbaum writes, no one knows how off target effects

  • 04:12 - 04:15

    may manifest in humans, who live much longer than the

  • 04:15 - 04:16

    animals that have been studied.

  • 04:17 - 04:19

    How unknowns and differences in lifespan may impact.

  • 04:20 - 04:21

    The harms of gene editing is a major question.

  • 04:22 - 04:24

    And interpreting its answers is one of the biggest ethical

  • 04:25 - 04:26

    dilemmas of gene editing.

  • 04:27 - 04:31

    Human dignity modification of the human genome occurring through gene

  • 04:31 - 04:33

    editing. Technology is feared by some to be a violation

  • 04:34 - 04:34

    of human dignity.

  • 04:35 - 04:38

    Inigo de Miguel Berrien in his article Human dignity and

  • 04:38 - 04:39

    gene editing rights.

  • 04:40 - 04:42

    According to some bioethical arguments and legal documents.

  • 04:43 - 04:47

    Germline modification would threaten human dignity since they consider the

  • 04:47 - 04:50

    human genome as the physical representation of human dignity.

  • 04:51 - 04:54

    There is, however, no universal definition of what human dignity

  • 04:55 - 04:58

    is, although there are generalized beliefs about what it should

  • 04:58 - 05:02

    be. In essence, this debate is around whether intentionally changing

  • 05:03 - 05:06

    the human genome detracts from human dignity, which is an

  • 05:07 - 05:09

    ethical question with a great deal of possible interpretation.

  • 05:11 - 05:15

    And lastly, the sources, thank you very much.