You are viewing a single comment's thread from:

RE: Tech Report - Do You Think Gene Editing Can be Considered Ethical or Moral?

in #genetics6 years ago (edited)

Very important questions! Indeed disappointingly low response.
I think we simply HAVE TO apply genetic editing to curing illness and disease. It is not playing god, because - if the concept of god - is accepted, then he/she "gave us" the gene editing, right? He/she allowed us to develop that far that we have an influence on our further evolution, even by changing our DNA. We didn´t played god, when we came down from the trees and walked upright, nor did we ask god before we started to manipulate atoms and did the atomic fission and fusion stuff.
So far our society is already allowing chronic ill people to get treated even at high costs - to even have a normal life, if possible (and produce offspring which in nature probably would not be possible), sooner or later gene editing will be considered just a fancy new tool to accomplish in principle the same things.
Of course, the first cases will be discussed intensively, but in the beginning it will be very few, spectacular success cases that will pave the way for a second wave of gene editing, less spectacular, but maybe affecting more people, and so on. And at the end nobody will be interested at all. Like it is with many things.
Should we establish "stronger moral and ethical guidelines before persuing more advanced gene editing" as you say? Definitely, and also more transparency of who owns the data. That privately held companies OWN your DNA is totally unacceptable and for this reason I would never do those self-testings you mentioned.