Imagining Future People in Biomedical Law

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Britta van Beers
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Engineering ◽  
Gene Editing ◽  
Emerging Technologies ◽  
Human Enhancement ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Future People ◽  
The Future ◽  
Biomedical Technologies ◽  
Human Genetic Engineering ◽  
Enhancement Technologies

Human genetic engineering and other human enhancement technologies bring about uncertainties and risks on both the physical and the conceptual and intangible levels. Much of the controversy surrounding these emerging technologies is due to the fact that categorical distinctions, such as between person and thing, and chance and choice, are blurred in radical ways. As a consequence, the emergence of biomedical technologies also entails, what could be called, metaphysical risks and symbolic uncertainties. This chapter explores the ways in which imaginings of the future of mankind and mankind itself have found their way into international legal regulation of biomedical technologies through an analysis of recent debates on the international ban on human germline genetic engineering. This prohibition, which is at the heart of international biolaw, is currently being questioned as recent scientific breakthroughs in the field of gene-editing are about to turn human genetic engineering into a reality.

scholarly journals The Ethics of Genetic Cognitive Enhancement: Gene Editing or Embryo Selection?

Philosophies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Marcelo de Araujo
Keyword(s):  
Gene Editing ◽  
Cognitive Enhancement ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Human Enhancement ◽  
Embryo Selection ◽  
Genome Wide Association Studies ◽  
Philosophical Debate ◽  
Human Genomics ◽  
Enhancement Technologies

Recent research with human embryos, in different parts of the world, has sparked a new debate on the ethics of genetic human enhancement. This debate, however, has mainly focused on gene-editing technologies, especially CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats). Less attention has been given to the prospect of pursuing genetic human enhancement by means of IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation) in conjunction with in vitro gametogenesis, genome-wide association studies, and embryo selection. This article examines the different ethical implications of the quest for cognitive enhancement by means of gene-editing on the one hand, and embryo selection on the other. The article focuses on the ethics of cognitive enhancement by means of embryo selection, as this technology is more likely to become commercially available before cognitive enhancement by means of gene-editing. This article argues that the philosophical debate on the ethics of enhancement should take into consideration public attitudes to research on human genomics and human enhancement technologies. The article discusses, then, some of the recent findings of the SIENNA Project, which in 2019 conducted a survey on public attitudes to human genomics and human enhancement technologies in 11 countries (France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Brazil, South Africa, South Korea, and United States).

“Enhancing Life?” Perspectives from Traditional Chinese Value-Systems

2008 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell Kirkland
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Engineering ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Human Enhancement ◽  
Cutting Edge ◽  
Value Systems ◽  
Life Enhancement ◽  
East And West ◽  
Enhancement Technologies

In his introduction to this symposium, “Religions and Cultures of East and West: Perspectives on Bioethics,” Dr. Robert Sade defined its purpose as follows: “The objective of [our] discussions…is to explore the limits of enhancement technologies in light of what makes us essentially human, in the view of world-wide cultures and religions.”These issues would seem to be at the cutting edge of any informed deliberation concerning the merits of “human enhancement” technologies. For instance, the issue of how “what makes us essentially human” affects our reflection on issues of technological “life enhancement” is raised in a 2007 book by Harvard professor Michael J. Sandel, The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering.

scholarly journals CRISPR: A Revolutionary Technique... For Humans?

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chrissa Barroma
Keyword(s):  
Immune System ◽  
Genetic Engineering ◽  
Gene Editing ◽  
Genomic Sequence ◽  
Somatic Cells ◽  
Clinical Implications ◽  
Human Genetic Engineering

CRISPR/Cas9 is a revolutionary technique that carries the possibility of altering the genomic sequence of an organism. Discovered in a bacterial immune system, CRISPR/Cas9 has been a popular topic of discussion since its first publication in 2012. In this essay, the opposing arguments on the use of CRISPR/Cas9 are discussed, based on the practical uses in human genetic engineering. First, the technique is described along with the comparison of other successful gene editing techniques. Secondly, the ethical and clinical implications are also discussed, and the effects of CRISPR use on human germline and somatic cells. This essay aims to answer whether CRISPR/Cas9 should be used to edit the genome of humans?

Human Enhancement Technologies and Democratic Citizenship

2015 ◽  
pp. 572-586
Author(s):  
Jean-Paul Gagnon
Keyword(s):  
Human Enhancement ◽  
Democratic Citizenship ◽  
First Case ◽  
The Future ◽  
Political Apathy ◽  
Enhancement Technologies

This chapter articulates that scholars write about Human Enhancement Technologies (HET) in two ways. This is not a reflection of a reality in the literature but rather a heuristic designed to contextualize democratic citizenship within contemporary HET discussions. The first way is to write about HET as possible realities far off into the future. The second way is to write about HET that can be realised seemingly as soon as tomorrow. For democratic citizenship, writing in the first case is either utopian or dystopian. It is either the projection of democracy's total triumph or its utter collapse caused by the type of rots that lead to democide. But writing in the second case is stimulating and vibrant. There are, for example, numerous calls for HET-led reforms in the literature. These reforms are needed to help answer the crisis of the citizen's august discontent (the growing and increasingly legitimized political apathy and political abstention observed in, and performed by, the citizenry). The purpose of this chapter is to focus on this second case—this more developed body of literature—and to theorise the interface between democratic citizenship and HET.

From Boundless Expansion to Existential Threat

Futures ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 332-348
Author(s):  
Apolline Taillandier
Keyword(s):  
Human Life ◽  
Human Enhancement ◽  
Political Imagination ◽  
Revolutionary Change ◽  
Existential Risk ◽  
Political Narratives ◽  
The Future ◽  
Enhancement Technologies

This essay examines visions of the future of human life in transhumanist imaginaries of the posthuman, ranging from utopian figurations to catastrophist warnings. Focusing on libertarian, liberal, and conservative posthuman imaginaries, it argues that the posthuman condition is defined by changing scientific, moral, and political narratives, including ideas of revolutionary change, progressive evolution through the ethical use of human enhancement technologies, and the mitigation of existential risk for the preservation of intelligence and civilization in the long term. Changing posthuman imaginaries, it shows, reshape spaces of present and future political imagination.

Science fiction authors’ perspectives on human genetic engineering

2021 ◽  
pp. medhum-2020-012041
Author(s):  
Derek So ◽  
Kelsey Crocker ◽  
Robert Sladek ◽  
Yann Joly
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Engineering ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
Gene Editing ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Human Gene ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Social Divisions ◽  
Safety Risks ◽  
Human Genetic Engineering ◽  
Brave New World

Participants in the human gene editing debate often consider examples from science fiction but have rarely engaged directly with the science fiction community as stakeholders. To understand how science fiction authors develop and spread their views on gene editing, we created an online questionnaire that was answered by 78 authors, including 71 who had previously written about genetic engineering. When asked which ethical issues science fiction should explore, respondents most frequently mentioned affordability, new social divisions, consent and unforeseen safety risks. They rarely advocated exploring psychological effects or religious objections. When asked which works of fiction had influenced their perceptions of gene editing, the most frequent responses were the film Gattaca, the Star Trek franchise and the novels The Island of Doctor Moreau and Brave New World. Unlike other stakeholders, they rarely cited Frankenstein as an influence. This article examines several differences between bioethicists, the general public and science fiction authors, and discusses how this community’s involvement might benefit proponents and opponents of gene editing. It also provides an overview of works mentioned by our respondents that might serve as useful references in the debate.

Human Enhancement Technologies and Democratic Citizenship

2014 ◽  
pp. 176-190
Author(s):  
Jean-Paul Gagnon
Keyword(s):  
Human Enhancement ◽  
Democratic Citizenship ◽  
First Case ◽  
The Future ◽  
Political Apathy ◽  
Enhancement Technologies

This chapter articulates that scholars write about Human Enhancement Technologies (HET) in two ways. This is not a reflection of a reality in the literature but rather a heuristic designed to contextualize democratic citizenship within contemporary HET discussions. The first way is to write about HET as possible realities far off into the future. The second way is to write about HET that can be realised seemingly as soon as tomorrow. For democratic citizenship, writing in the first case is either utopian or dystopian. It is either the projection of democracy's total triumph or its utter collapse caused by the type of rots that lead to democide. But writing in the second case is stimulating and vibrant. There are, for example, numerous calls for HET-led reforms in the literature. These reforms are needed to help answer the crisis of the citizen's august discontent (the growing and increasingly legitimized political apathy and political abstention observed in, and performed by, the citizenry). The purpose of this chapter is to focus on this second case—this more developed body of literature—and to theorise the interface between democratic citizenship and HET.

Enhancing Humans and Sustainability: The Reunion of Bioethics and Environmental Ethics

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 35-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan McGregor
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Ethics ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Emerging Technologies ◽  
Natural Capital ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Normative Study ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Enhancement Technologies

Emerging technologies are hyped as ‘transformative’ by their proponents, who prophesize that these new technologies will significantly and beneficially change our world. Concerns have been raised about the potential environmental impacts of these technologies. Emerging technologies and their implications on humans, society, and the environment challenge our understanding of our responsibilities to the environment and future generations. Utilizing Van Potter’s sense of bioethics that meant the normative study of humanity’s place in the biosphere, I attempt to reintegrate bioethics and environmental ethics, to address questions about human well-being in the future, its dependence on complex environmental systems, and the impact of emerging technologies particularly enhancement technologies upon it. Ultimately, I argue that the future envisioned by proponents of human enhancement technologies is not consistent with our responsibilities to future generations which including leaving certain amounts of natural capital, including human ones.

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