RT Article
T1 Do Mitochondrial Replacement Techniques Affect Qualitative or Numerical Identity?
JF Bioethics
VO 31
IS 1
SP 20
OP 26
A1 Liao, S. Matthew
LA English
PB Wiley-Blackwell
YR 2017
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1727664639
AB Mitochondrial replacement techniques (MRTs), known in the popular media as 'three-parent' or 'three-person' IVFs, have the potential to enable women with mitochondrial diseases to have children who are genetically related to them but without such diseases. In the debate regarding whether MRTs should be made available, an issue that has garnered considerable attention is whether MRTs affect the characteristics of an existing individual or whether they result in the creation of a new individual, given that MRTs involve the genetic manipulation of the germline. In other words, do MRTs affect the qualitative identity or the numerical identity of the resulting child? For instance, a group of panelists on behalf of the UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has claimed that MRTs affect only the qualitative identity of the resulting child, while the Working Group of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (NCOB) has argued that MRTs would create a numerically distinct individual. In this article, I shall argue that MRTs do create a new and numerically distinct individual. Since my explanation is different from the NCOB's explanation, I shall also offer reasons why my explanation is preferable to the NCOB's explanation.
K1 maternal spindle transfer
K1 mitochondrial donation
K1 mitochondrial replacement technique
K1 numerical identity
K1 Personal Identity
K1 qualitative identity
K1 three parent IVF
DO 10.1111/bioe.12308