Vulnerable groups and the hollow promise of benefit from human gene editing

Mainstream academic debate on the ethics of human gene editing is currently not as inclusive as it should be. For example, it currently does not give due consideration to Indigenous groups and cultures, such as those living in rural and remote areas of Canada. Once such people are given due consider...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Tonkens, Ryan (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2021
In: Bioethics
Year: 2021, Volume: 35, Issue: 6, Pages: 574-580
IxTheo Classification:KBQ North America
NCH Medical ethics
NCJ Ethics of science
Further subjects:B Inclusion
B ethics of human gene editing
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Summary:Mainstream academic debate on the ethics of human gene editing is currently not as inclusive as it should be. For example, it currently does not give due consideration to Indigenous groups and cultures, such as those living in rural and remote areas of Canada. Once such people are given due consideration, then several important points emerge, which have so far gone unnoticed or under-emphasized in the debate. This article focuses on two of those points: (a) Some vulnerable people who are currently being ignored in the debate may not desire to use gene editing, even if it is safe, effective and affordable, and they will have compelling reasons for making this decision; and (b) even if such people do decide to use the technology, the gene editing enterprise itself is unlikely to do much good for them (and may even be harmful to them), as it alarmingly misses the point regarding the underlying contributing causes of the most pressing problems that those people are facing. Therefore, the promise of the gene editing enterprise is a hollow one for some groups of vulnerable people. These considerations should be used more prominently to guide debate on the ethics of human gene editing.
ISSN:1467-8519
Contains:Enthalten in: Bioethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/bioe.12882