Ethical issues related to research on genome editing in human embryos
Niemiec, Emilia LU
and Howard, Heidi Carmen
LU
(2020)
In Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal
18.
p.887-896
- Abstract
Although the potential advantages of clinical germline genome editing (GGE) over currently available methods are limited, the implementation of GGE in the clinic has been proposed and discussed. Ethical issues related to such an application have been extensively debated, meanwhile, seemingly less attention has been paid to ethical implications of studies which would have to be conducted in order to evaluate potential clinical uses of GGE. In this article, we first provide an overview of the debate on potential clinical uses of GGE. Then, we discuss questions and ethical issues related to the studies relevant to evaluation of potential clinical uses of GGE. In particular, we describe the problems related to the acceptable safety... (More)
Although the potential advantages of clinical germline genome editing (GGE) over currently available methods are limited, the implementation of GGE in the clinic has been proposed and discussed. Ethical issues related to such an application have been extensively debated, meanwhile, seemingly less attention has been paid to ethical implications of studies which would have to be conducted in order to evaluate potential clinical uses of GGE. In this article, we first provide an overview of the debate on potential clinical uses of GGE. Then, we discuss questions and ethical issues related to the studies relevant to evaluation of potential clinical uses of GGE. In particular, we describe the problems related to the acceptable safety threshold, current technical hurdles in human GGE, the destruction of human embryos used in the experiments, involvement of egg donors, and genomic sequencing performed on the samples of the research participants. The technical and ethical problems related to studies on GGE should be acknowledged and carefully considered in the process of deciding to apply technology in such a way that will provide benefits and minimize harms.
(Less)
- author
- Niemiec, Emilia
LU
and Howard, Heidi Carmen
LU
- publishing date
- 2020
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- keywords
- CRISPR-Cas9, Egg donation, Genome editing, Oocyte donation, Research ethics, Whole genome sequencing
- in
- Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal
- volume
- 18
- pages
- 10 pages
- publisher
- Research Network of Computational and Structural Biotechnology
- external identifiers
-
- pmid:32322370
- scopus:85083337568
- ISSN
- 2001-0370
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.csbj.2020.03.014
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- 2b28cdd4-f84e-4077-8ab1-6eaad04bfb86
- date added to LUP
- 2020-11-17 17:22:45
- date last changed
- 2024-06-13 00:05:34
@article{2b28cdd4-f84e-4077-8ab1-6eaad04bfb86,
abstract = {{<p>Although the potential advantages of clinical germline genome editing (GGE) over currently available methods are limited, the implementation of GGE in the clinic has been proposed and discussed. Ethical issues related to such an application have been extensively debated, meanwhile, seemingly less attention has been paid to ethical implications of studies which would have to be conducted in order to evaluate potential clinical uses of GGE. In this article, we first provide an overview of the debate on potential clinical uses of GGE. Then, we discuss questions and ethical issues related to the studies relevant to evaluation of potential clinical uses of GGE. In particular, we describe the problems related to the acceptable safety threshold, current technical hurdles in human GGE, the destruction of human embryos used in the experiments, involvement of egg donors, and genomic sequencing performed on the samples of the research participants. The technical and ethical problems related to studies on GGE should be acknowledged and carefully considered in the process of deciding to apply technology in such a way that will provide benefits and minimize harms.</p>}},
author = {{Niemiec, Emilia and Howard, Heidi Carmen}},
issn = {{2001-0370}},
keywords = {{CRISPR-Cas9; Egg donation; Genome editing; Oocyte donation; Research ethics; Whole genome sequencing}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{887--896}},
publisher = {{Research Network of Computational and Structural Biotechnology}},
series = {{Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal}},
title = {{Ethical issues related to research on genome editing in human embryos}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.csbj.2020.03.014}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.csbj.2020.03.014}},
volume = {{18}},
year = {{2020}},
}