10/20 Ethics Topic: CRISPR Gene Editing

My chosen topic is gene editing (CRISPR), which poses an ethical dilemma because the safety of editing genes poses many risks to the embryo/person later on as well as future generations that the modified DNA can be passed down to. It also opens the door to people going overboard and trying to design children to be genetically superior, which crosses the line over to eugenics, which is a discriminatory practice and commonly known as a form of scientific racism. Eugenics is the practice of trying to improve the human population by selecting the most “desirable” traits. There was a eugenics movement in the United States from the late 1800s to 1940s, which involved forced sterilization or prohibition of marriage for people with “undesirable” traits. It allowed for extreme discrimination for people of color, low economic status, and those with genetic conditions such as epilepsy. In modern times, if people are granted the ability to genetically edit embryos, it would allow for the eugenics movement to return as people could choose the traits they consider to be the most desirable for their children. Not to mention, scientists have no idea how safe the practice of editing DNA with the CRISPR tool is, and it could create even more genetic mutations that are passed down to more generations and introduce new diseases to the human population. 

Gene-editing compromises the ethical pillars of non-maleficence because it is unsafe (unknown effects and risks), autonomy because the embryo cannot consent and is forced to live with the effects of the mutations, and justice because of its relation to eugenics and scientific racism. The parties involved include the parents of the embryo, the patient (embryo), future generations after the embryo, and the doctor and hospital involved because the scientific community has agreed not to use CRISPR to edit human DNA yet, so they would be responsible for violating that agreement and any issues caused by the practice.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

9/2 Primary Characters in Grey's Anatomy

Image
  From the very first episode of Grey's Anatomy , it is clear that the primary cast members have one distinct common trait, competitiveness. The characters begin as interns, and on their first day, they are told that most of them will either be cut from the program or quit. They are consistently working their hardest to earn surgeries and even resort to sabotaging others at times. The environment at the hospital they work at is shown to be very cutthroat. Christina Yang is the most competitive of the characters and for most of the show, appears to be the most serious about her work and dedicated to improvement. She is constantly practicing surgical techniques on her own and is set on her specialty, cardiothoracic surgery, from day one. The interns also share a strong respect for authority. They are ranked below the residents, attending surgeons, and chief and are always putting forward their best effort to impress them and learn from them. Alex Karev is one exception, as his rude,
Read more

12/12 Final Reflective Blog

Image
I felt that the peer editing process was super helpful for me to not only improve my writing from the feedback received, but also to see and learn from other people's writing. In high school, I got very used to the basic five-paragraph structure and having three body paragraphs be the three reasons listed  in my thesis. However, I believe seeing the different ways my peers organize their papers in comparison to mine was very interesting and helped me branch out from my old routine and further develop my writing.  The blogging process was also very helpful for taking the first steps toward getting my thoughts written out. The prompts really helped me develop my position and set up my rough drafts.  As a computer science major, I was worried coming into this class because I didn't think my interests would connect very well to health or writing in general, but I actually found each of the prompts and my individual topics very interesting and enjoyed learning more about subjects th
Read more

9/21 Perspectives on Paternalism in Public Health (Diet)

Image
A public health policy becomes paternalistic when it interferes with people’s habits and choices. A common way the government creates paternalistic policies is when it attempts to combat the issues of obesity and overconsumption. Restricting portion sizes and harmful ingredients, and adding taxes to unhealthy foods are prime examples of how a public health policy can, regardless of good intentions, infringe on people’s bodily autonomy by causing a direct change to their habits. However, there are also options that can help improve public health without necessarily telling people what to do or making them pay more for choices deemed unacceptable by the government. Examples include required nutrition labels and supplied dietary guides. Educational information about proper nutrition can help people make more informed dietary choices without actually making those choices for them. On the other hand, there is also the current issue of corporations encouraging overconsumption and “junk” food
Read more