Mitochondrial Replacement Techniques, the Non-Identity Problem, and Genetic Parenthood

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Simkulet
Keyword(s):  
Identity Problem ◽  
Genetic Parenthood ◽  
Mitochondrial Replacement Techniques

scholarly journals Nuclear Families: Mitochondrial Replacement Techniques and the Regulation of Parenthood

2020 ◽  
pp. 016224392093454
Author(s):  
Catherine Mills
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Dna ◽  
Jacques Derrida ◽  
Nuclear Family ◽  
Nuclear Families ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Egg Donors ◽  
Genetic Parenthood ◽  
Genetic Parents ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Mitochondrial Replacement Techniques

Since mitochondrial replacement techniques (MRT) were developed and clinically introduced in the United Kingdom (UK), there has been much discussion of whether these lead to children borne of three parents. In the UK, the regulation of MRT has dealt with this by stipulating that egg donors for the purposes of MRT are not genetic parents even though they contribute mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to offspring. In this paper, I examine the way that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act in the UK manages the question of parentage. I argue that the Act breaks the link typically made between genetic causation and genetic parenthood by redefining genetic causation solely in terms of nuclear genetics. Along with this, mtDNA is construed as a kind of supplement to the nuclear family. Drawing on the account of the supplement developed by Jacques Derrida, I argue that mtDNA and the women who donate it are seen as both essential to establishing the nuclear family but also exterior to and insignificant for it.

scholarly journals Lesbian motherhood and mitochondrial replacement techniques: reproductive freedom and genetic kinship

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (12) ◽  
pp. 835-842 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Cavaliere ◽  
César Palacios-González
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Dna ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Mitochondrial Diseases ◽  
Sufficient Reason ◽  
Lesbian Couples ◽  
Reproductive Freedom ◽  
Lesbian Motherhood ◽  
Genetic Parenthood ◽  
Mitochondrial Replacement Techniques ◽  
Potential Objection

In this paper, we argue that lesbian couples who wish to have children who are genetically related to both of them should be allowed access to mitochondrial replacement techniques (MRTs). First, we provide a brief explanation of mitochondrial diseases and MRTs. We then present the reasons why MRTs are not, by nature, therapeutic. The upshot of the view that MRTs are non-therapeutic techniques is that their therapeutic potential cannot be invoked for restricting their use only to those cases where a mitochondrial DNA disease could be ‘cured’. We then argue that a positive case for MRTs is justified by an appeal to reproductive freedom, and that the criteria to access these techniques should hence be extended to include lesbian couples who wish to share genetic parenthood. Finally, we consider a potential objection to our argument: that the desire to have genetically related kin is not a morally sufficient reason to allow lesbian couples to access MRTs.

Kant, Marginal Cases, and Moral Standing

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine M. Korsgaard
Keyword(s):  
Life Stage ◽  
The Other ◽  
Moral Standing ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Identity Problem ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Moral Difference

According to the marginal cases argument, there is no property that might justify making a moral difference between human beings and the other animals that is both uniquely and universally human. It is therefore “speciesist” to treat human beings differently just because we are human beings. While not challenging the conclusion, this chapter argues that the marginal cases argument is metaphysically misguided. It ignores the differences between a life stage and a kind, and between lacking a property and having it in a defective form. The chapter then argues for a view of moral standing that attributes it to the subject of a life conceived as an atemporal being, and shows how this view can resolve some familiar puzzles such as how death can be a loss to the person who has died, how we can wrong the dead, the “procreation asymmetry,” and the “non-identity problem.”

The relative importance of genetic parenthood

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saskia Hendriks ◽  
Madelon van Wely ◽  
Thomas M. D'Hooghe ◽  
Andreas Meissner ◽  
Femke Mol ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Relative Importance ◽  
Genetic Parenthood

The Non-identity Problem and «Historical Victims»

Philosophia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcos Alonso ◽  
Rodrigo Escribano
Keyword(s):  
Identity Problem

The transfer RNA identity problem: a search for rules

Science ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 263 (5144) ◽  
pp. 191-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Saks ◽  
Sampson ◽  
J. Abelson
Keyword(s):  
Transfer Rna ◽  
Identity Problem

scholarly journals Zika, contraception and the non-identity problem

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 173-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyur Doolabh ◽  
Lucius Caviola ◽  
Julian Savulescu ◽  
Michael Selgelid ◽  
Dominic JC Wilkinson
Keyword(s):  
Identity Problem

scholarly journals Mitochondrial DNA Replacement Techniques to Prevent Human Mitochondrial Diseases

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 551
Author(s):  
Luis Sendra ◽  
Alfredo García-Mares ◽  
María José Herrero ◽  
Salvador F. Aliño
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Dna ◽  
Nuclear Dna ◽  
Genetic Disorders ◽  
Mitochondrial Diseases ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Donor Oocyte ◽  
Legal Position ◽  
Ethical And Legal Issues ◽  
Mitochondrial Replacement Techniques ◽  
Do So

Background: Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) diseases are a group of maternally inherited genetic disorders caused by a lack of energy production. Currently, mtDNA diseases have a poor prognosis and no known cure. The chance to have unaffected offspring with a genetic link is important for the affected families, and mitochondrial replacement techniques (MRTs) allow them to do so. MRTs consist of transferring the nuclear DNA from an oocyte with pathogenic mtDNA to an enucleated donor oocyte without pathogenic mtDNA. This paper aims to determine the efficacy, associated risks, and main ethical and legal issues related to MRTs. Methods: A bibliographic review was performed on the MEDLINE and Web of Science databases, along with searches for related clinical trials and news. Results: A total of 48 publications were included for review. Five MRT procedures were identified and their efficacy was compared. Three main risks associated with MRTs were discussed, and the ethical views and legal position of MRTs were reviewed. Conclusions: MRTs are an effective approach to minimizing the risk of transmitting mtDNA diseases, but they do not remove it entirely. Global legal regulation of MRTs is required.

Parfit and the Non-Identity Problem

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Boonin
Keyword(s):  
Identity Problem ◽  
Future People

In this chapter, the author explains what the non-identity problem is and why it matters, as well as Derek Parfit’s central role in the literature on the problem. The author explains the solution to the problem Parfit tentatively proposed in Reasons and Persons (1984) and the two reasons he gave for being dissatisfied with that solution. The author then explains the solution that Parfit later defended in his final (posthumous) publication (2017) and why he thought that solution overcame the two problems with his earlier solution. The author then identifies a third problem with Parfit’s earlier solution and shows that this third problem is also a problem with his later solution. The author concludes by suggesting that one lesson that might be drawn from the failure of Parfit’s last solution points in the direction of a very different kind of response to the problem, one defended in the author’s 2014 book, The Non-Identity Problem and the Ethics of Future People. And in doing so, the author responds to some of the criticisms of that response that Parfit himself makes early in his final publication.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document