Abstract
Much has been written about gene modifying technologies (GMTs), with a particularly strong focus on human germline genome editing (HGGE) sparked by its unprecedented clinical research application in 2018, shocking the scientific community. This paper applies political, ethical, and social lenses to aspects of HGGE to uncover previously underexplored considerations that are important to reflect on in global discussions. By exploring 4 areas—(1) just distribution of HGGE benefits through a realist lens; (2) HGGE through a national interest lens; (3) “broad societal consensus” through a structural injustice lens; and (4) HGGE through a scientific trustworthiness lens—a broader perspective is offered, which ultimately aims to enrich further debates and inform well-considered solutions for developments in this field. The application of these lenses also brings to light the fact that all discussions about scientific developments involve a conscious or unconscious application of a lens that shapes the direction of our thinking.
Highlights
This paper examines a range of diverse issues around human germline genome editing (HGGE) through a number of underexplored lenses relating to political, ethical, and social considerations
The range of diverse issues considered through different lenses in this paper includes the just distribution of human germline genome editing (HGGE) benefits through a realist lens; HGGE through a national interest lens; “broad societal consensus” in HGGE through a structural injustice lens; and HGGE through a scientific trustworthiness lens
While countries will be guided by other considerations as well, the explicit place national interests hold in the science policy surrounding gene modifying technologies (GMTs) requires careful attention
Summary
This paper examines a range of diverse issues around HGGE through a number of underexplored lenses relating to political, ethical, and social considerations. While we are cognizant that somatic editing for gene therapy raises social justice and nationalism issues, we have chosen a narrower lens to focus on HGGE as the latter deserves closer scrutiny due to its ability to make heritable changes in the human genome.
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