ANALYZING THE POTENTIAL IMPACT AND ETHICAL QUESTIONS SURROUNDING CRISPR-CAS9 IN EMBRYONIC GENOME EDITING
Analyzing Potential Impact and Ethical Questions Concerning CRISPR-Cas9 in Genome Editing covers the current state of genome editing, and more specifically, the CRISPR-Cas9 system. The goal of this thesis is to answer the broad questions; “What is genome editing?,” “Who can afford it?,” and “What are the associated ethical concerns?” This thesis provides scientific background on genome editing and examines recent developments in this field. What is CRISPR-Cas9 discovered? How does it work? What are some analogous gene-editing techniques? Why should we correct embryos instead of select different embryos? It examines the available empirical data that may aid in projecting the potential cost of genome editing. Estimating this cost may help determine who will have access to this ground-breaking technology. Procedures such as in vitro fertilization and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis can help determine this cost, as these technologies are precursor steps to embryonic genome editing. Next, it covers the many questions and ethical concerns associated with using embryonic genome editing to treat diseases and disorders. If the price of CRISPR-Cas9 is high, would disease and disorder become a “disease of poverty?” Does embryonic genome editing open the door to eugenics? And finally, it addresses questions and ethical concerns associated with embryonic enhancement. In addition, this chapter concludes by discussing why we need to use this technology, some of the over-arching worries, and whether or not this technology has the potential to change the human germline.
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