Gene technology in humans: can the responsibilities be borne by scientists, physicians, and patients?

Abstract

The possible and likely application of gene technology in medical treatment raises a multitude of ethical and philosophical questions, as well as inducing conjecture about the nature of scientific research. Is a strictly causalistic way of thinking and the positivistic expectation of a clear cut outcome applicable in the life sciences? Is the concept of the gene as the inseparable and indivisible unit of heredity still valid? Certainly the one gene–one protein hypothesis is no longer tenable. Competition in genomic research has largely become economic competition, much of this research being in the hands of small firms, and thus the traditional rules of scientific honesty in research are no being longer observed. All this has led to a dissolution of responsibility and to mystification in the media and the public mind. This article is an appeal for the adoption of a sober, modest, and rational attitude towards these important and at the same time complex issues.