Year: 2021
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: Gene editing technologies consist of a set of engineering tools, such as CRISPR/Cas9, that seek to deliberately target and modify specific DNA sequences of living cells. While technical and safety challenges prevail, particularly regarding germline applications, these technologies are touted as transformational for the promotion and improvement of health and well-being. Furthermore, their enhanced simplicity, efficiency, precision and affordability had spurred their development. This in turn, has brought to the fora scientific and socio-political debates concerning their wide range of actual and potential applications together with their inexorable ethical implications. So far, human gene editing (HGE) has stimulated a new wave of policy by an extensive range of national and international actors (e.g. governments, professional organizations, funding agencies, etc.). This chapter outlines some of the socio-ethical issues raised by HGE technologies, with focus on germline interventions (HGI) and addresses a variety of policy frameworks. It further analyses commonalities as well as divergences in approaches traversing a continuum of normative models.
Author: Rosario Isasi
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W3168486286