Genetic Engineering
Around this time last year, Chinese scientist and researcher, He Jianku, was performed the first-ever gene-editing experiment on twin baby girls, Lulu and Nana. The dad of these girls had HIV, and these parents wanted to ensure that their daughters would not be born with HIV. They consented to Jianku editing the DNA of their daughters to take out the gene that would ever cause them from having HIV. This was something that no one had done before.
Over the past semester in Comp 2, I have been researching both the history of genetic engineering and the controversy and ethical issues that come with this advancing technology. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the definition of gene editing is “the use of biotechnological techniques to make changes to specific DNA sequences in the genome of a living organism.” This can be done through the deletion, insertion, or replacement of a DNA sequence.
CRISPR-Cas9 systems, the repetitive DNA strand that makes gene-editing possible, was first discovered in 1987 by Yoshizumi Ishino in E. Coli. However, the idea of genetic engineering did not even exist until 1992 when Spanish scientist Francis Mojica discovered CRISPR-Cas9 in other organisms and his team started doing further research and discovered that CRISPR could be used to change out DNA. Right now, CRISPR is being used to try to cure genetic diseases by editing the DNA of removed cells and then putting the cells back in. Genetic engineering, though, is much harder to put into practice. There is always the possibility of editing the wrong genes, or editing the right genes in the wrong way, especially as this research continues, which is part of the reason why this topic is so controversial.
Because this technology is so new, and the possibilities of mistakes, there are concerns over whether or not it is ethical to edit our genes as well as if the research and experiments to do so are ethical. Jianku’s experiment sparked a lot of this controversy and is also the reason that gene editing is talked about a lot more recently. He Jianku actually ended up being fired from his university and, by rule of the health ministry in China, is no longer allowed to do scientific research. Not only was his equipment not properly tested, but he may have lied to the parents of Lulu and Nana about the safety of the procedure in order to receive their consent. Health organizations around the world have come to different conclusions on the ethicality of gene editing.
Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, decided that the NIH will not fund any gene-editing technology. In his statement released on NIH’s website, Collins stated that the problem with genetic engineering is germline editing, which is changing traits that will be passed on through generations. He does not think that we should force the editing and changes on to “future generations without their consent,” and has banned the funding of any gene-editing technology through the NIH.
Unlike the NIH’s strong opinion on gene editing, the World Health Organization has not come to a conclusion. Dr. Tedro Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of WHO, released a statement that said that we should not allow the research of gene editing to continue until all of the ethics have been considered and actual laws are in place. He also talked about how important it is to discuss this, and the statement continued to talk about what is being done to reach a decision, like how WHO has an expert committee just focused on genetic engineering. WHO has not reached a conclusion yet, but because this issue is so deep and so controversial, they are doing everything that they can in order to find out what, exactly, they should do about genetic engineering.
Because it’s where Jianku’s experiment took place, China had to take more immediate action than WHO. China made laws where if groups or people use unauthorized or unapproved medical technology (like He Jianku), they could get fined, and in the long-term, they may no longer be approved for grants for research. For those who use to get human trials approved, they could be fined up to $15,000, and they could lose their research permits. WHO will likely be looking at both China’s and the NIH’s actions, as well as the actions of any other country or organization who has already taken action, to figure out how they will proceed.
Gene editing, though new, is quickly become a very controversial topic all over the world. Different organizations and countries will proceed different ways, and as this technology becomes even more advanced, the discussions surrounding the issue will change and shift. With how fast our world is changing, we should all be paying to this and reading and learning more about the technology and ethics that come into play here. So what do you think? Is gene editing ethical?
