scholarly journals Bioethical Analysis of Gene Editing

2020 ◽  
pp. 36-37
Author(s):  
Caitlin Marie Reintjes ◽  
Isabel Dewey
Keyword(s):  
Gene Editing ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Genetic Enhancement ◽  
Opportunity Gap ◽  
Genetic Changes ◽  
New Developments ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Economic Perspectives ◽  
Genomic Editing

New developments in gene editing methods include the possibility to alter embryos for disease resistance. This could allow for increased immunity in the future, but at what cost? Gene editing may have unintended consequences. Some alterations may prevent the development of one disease but increase susceptibility to another. Other genes persist in populations for complex evolutionary reasons. Scientists must therefore consider the consequences and bioethics associated with these genetic changes. With examples such as the CCR5 coreceptor and major histocompatibility complex, it becomes clear that this type of genetic enhancement is immoral when evaluating it from biological, evolutionary, social, and economic perspectives. First, having the ability to select for certain desirable genes limits genetic diversity, which creates a barrier for evolution. Selecting for certain genes perpetuates the concept of ideal genes resembling dangerous eugenic ideologies. Should these procedures become more prevalent, the issue of accessibility arises. If these expensive procedures are only available to those who can afford them, the opportunity gap between the poor and the rich will widen. An investigation of case studies and ethical implications demonstrates that genomic editing is immoral and impermissible.

scholarly journals Non-viral delivery of CRISPR–Cas9 complexes for targeted gene editing via a polymer delivery system

Gene Therapy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan O’Keeffe Ahern ◽  
Irene Lara-Sáez ◽  
Dezhong Zhou ◽  
Rodolfo Murillas ◽  
Jose Bonafont ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Delivery System ◽  
Gene Editing ◽  
Transfection Efficiency ◽  
Attractive Alternative ◽  
Safe Delivery ◽  
Guide Rna ◽  
Recessive Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa ◽  
Targeted Gene Editing ◽  
Genomic Editing ◽  
Polymeric Vectors

AbstractRecent advances in molecular biology have led to the CRISPR revolution, but the lack of an efficient and safe delivery system into cells and tissues continues to hinder clinical translation of CRISPR approaches. Polymeric vectors offer an attractive alternative to viruses as delivery vectors due to their large packaging capacity and safety profile. In this paper, we have demonstrated the potential use of a highly branched poly(β-amino ester) polymer, HPAE-EB, to enable genomic editing via CRISPRCas9-targeted genomic excision of exon 80 in the COL7A1 gene, through a dual-guide RNA sequence system. The biophysical properties of HPAE-EB were screened in a human embryonic 293 cell line (HEK293), to elucidate optimal conditions for efficient and cytocompatible delivery of a DNA construct encoding Cas9 along with two RNA guides, obtaining 15–20% target genomic excision. When translated to human recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) keratinocytes, transfection efficiency and targeted genomic excision dropped. However, upon delivery of CRISPR–Cas9 as a ribonucleoprotein complex, targeted genomic deletion of exon 80 was increased to over 40%. Our study provides renewed perspective for the further development of polymer delivery systems for application in the gene editing field in general, and specifically for the treatment of RDEB.

CRISPR (See Genomic Editing; Gene Editing)

2021 ◽  
pp. 369-370
Author(s):  
Henk ten Have ◽  
Maria do Céu Patrão Neves
Keyword(s):  
Gene Editing ◽  
Genomic Editing

“No Day without a Deed to Crown It”

Meeting Place ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Pomfret
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Ethnic Segregation ◽  
Social Division ◽  
The Poor ◽  
International Fellowship ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Chinese Girls

The Ministering Children’s League was founded in Britain in 1885 with the aim of cultivating among children of the rich a desire to feel empathy with the poor and suffering. Examining the work of the league’s branch in Hong Kong in the early 20th century, this chapter argues that the decision by Flora Shaw, the activist wife of the Governor, Sir Frederick Lugard, to include Chinese girls as members broke down the race-bound relations between ‘benevolents’ and ‘beneficiaries’ and, in providing opportunities for Chinese and European children to work together and mingle socially, led to unintended consequences, and complicated the idea that ‘Empire’ was a straightforward story of social division and ethnic segregation. Under the aegis of empire-sponsored philanthropy, children in Hong Kong assumed the spirit of public service while learning to see themselves as part of a multicultural, international fellowship of childhood.

scholarly journals Psychology and Surveillance Capitalism: The Risk of Pushing Mental Health Apps During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (5) ◽  
pp. 611-625
Author(s):  
Lisa Cosgrove ◽  
Justin M. Karter ◽  
Zenobia Morrill ◽  
Mallaigh McGinley
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Negative Mood ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Humanistic Psychology ◽  
The Public ◽  
Health Apps ◽  
Digital Phenotyping ◽  
The Rich

During the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth technologies and mental health apps have been promoted to manage distress in the public and to augment existing mental health services. From a humanistic perspective, the promotion and use of mobile apps raises ethical concerns regarding the autonomy of the person using the app. However, there are other dangers that arise when technological fixes are embraced at a time of crisis. Naomi Klein and Shoshanna Zuboff have recently warned about disaster and surveillance capitalism—using crises to pass legislation that will benefit the rich and deepen inequality, and using anonymized behavioral data for commercial purposes. This analysis reveals that mental health apps may take individuals at their most vulnerable and make them part of a hidden supply chain for the marketplace. We provide a case study of a mental health app that uses digital phenotyping to predict negative mood states. We describe the logic of digital phenotyping and assess the efficacy data on which claims of its validity are based. Drawing from the frameworks of disaster and surveillance capitalism, we also use a humanistic psychology lens to identify the ethical entanglements and the unintended consequences of promoting and using this technology during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Organizational anonymity and the negotiation of research access

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Taylor ◽  
Christopher Land
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Continuous Process ◽  
Work Organization ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Public Debate ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Organizational Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Organization And Management

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the part of the organizational research process, access negotiation, through reflexive analysis of the participation in a recent data collection process. The paper aims is to question two emergent norms in this area: first, that organizational anonymity be granted in exchange for organizational access; and second, that access negotiation be seen as a bounded activity at the start of data collection. Design/methodology/approach – Through the reflexive account and with reference to published accounts of practice in other research projects, the authors explore the reasons why researchers offer organizational anonymity, and note the unintended consequences of this practice. The authors locate the discussion in relation to increased expectations on social researchers to contribute to public debate about managing and organizing. Findings – The author suggests that the negotiation of access without promising anonymity may generate more situated accounts of organization, and greater participation in political or ethical debates surrounding work, organization, and management. By facilitating a clearer line of impact stemming from qualitative research, this would also aid researchers in demonstrating the value of their work in informing public debate. Social implications – The authors conclude by reiterating the potential for organizational researchers to achieve greater social and ethical impact, especially if the authors frame access negotiation as a continuous process rather simply as than a moment at the start of a project. Originality/value – The authors argue that the paper raises a key, but neglected, issue in conducting empirical organizational research, that has political and ethical implications as well as a methodological significance. Through the analysis, the authors encourage themselves and the research community to be clearer about the potential value of scholarship in debates happening outside the academy, and to see access negotiation as more complex than simply a transaction in which organizational anonymity is promised in return for data.

scholarly journals Applications of CRISPR/Cas Gene-Editing Technology in Fungi

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Binyou Liao ◽  
Lei Cheng ◽  
Yujie Zhou ◽  
Yangyang Shi ◽  
Xingchen Ye ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Editing ◽  
Yeast Genome ◽  
Transcription Activator ◽  
Single Nucleotide ◽  
Complex Design ◽  
Infection Treatment ◽  
New Gene ◽  
Low Efficiency ◽  
Genomic Editing ◽  
Cas Gene

Abstract Genome editing technology develop fast in recent years. The traditional gene-editing methods, including homologous recombination, zinc finger endonuclease, and transcription activator-like effector nuclease and so on, which have greatly promoted the research of genetics and molecular biology, have gradually showed their limitations such as low efficiency, high error rate, and complex design. In 2012,a new gene-editing technology, the CRISPR/Cas9 system, was setup based on the research of the immune responses to viruses from archaea and bacteria. Due to its advantages of high target efficiency, simple primer design, and wide application, CRISPR/Cas9 system, whose developers are awared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry this year, has become the dominant genomic editing technology in global academia and some pharmaceuticals. Here we briefly introduce the CRISPR/Cas system and its main applications in yeast, filamentous fungi and macrofungi, including single nucleotide, polygene and polyploid editing, yeast chromosome construction, yeast genome and yeast library construction, CRISPRa/CRISPRi-mediated, CRISPR platform of non-traditional yeast and regulation of metabolic pathway, to highlight the possible applications on fungal infection treatment and to promote the transformation and application of the CRISPR/Cas system in fungi.

scholarly journals Ethics, Patents and Genome Editing: A Critical Assessment of Three Options of Technology Governance

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oliver Feeney ◽  
Julian Cockbain ◽  
Sigrid Sterckx
Keyword(s):  
Advisory Committee ◽  
Genome Editing ◽  
Gene Editing ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Private Governance ◽  
Genetic Changes ◽  
Technology Governance ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Regulatory Approach ◽  
Global Coordination

Current methods of genome editing have been steadily realising the once remote possibilities of making effective and realistic genetic changes to humans, animals and plants. To underpin this, only 6 years passed between Charpentier and Doudna’s 2012 CRISPR-Cas9 paper and the first confirmed (more or less) case of gene-edited humans. While the traditional legislative and regulatory approach of governments and international bodies is evolving, there is still considerable divergence, unevenness and lack of clarity. However, alongside the technical progress, innovation has also been taking place in terms of ethical guidance from the field of patenting. The rise of so-called “ethical licensing” is one such innovation, where patent holders’ control over genome editing techniques, such as CRISPR, creates a form of private governance over possible uses of gene-editing through ethical constraints built into their licensing agreements. While there are some immediately apparent advantages (epistemic, speed, flexibility, global reach, court enforced), this route seems problematic for, at least, three important reasons: 1) lack of democratic legitimacy/procedural justice, 2) voluntariness, wider/global coordination, and sustainability/stability challenges and 3) potential motivational effects/problems. Unless these three concerns are addressed, it is not clear if this route is an improvement on the longer, slower traditional regulatory route (despite the aforementioned problems). Some of these concerns seem potentially addressed by another emerging patent-based approach. Parthasarathy proposes government-driven regulation using the patent system, which, she argues, has more transparency and legitimacy than the ethical licensing approach. This proposal includes the formation of an advisory committee that would guide this government-driven approach in terms of deciding when to exert control over gene editing patents. There seem to be some apparent advantages with this approach (over traditional regulation and over the ethical licensing approach mentioned above—speed and stability being central, as well as increased democratic legitimacy). However, problems also arise—such as a “half-way house” of global democratic legitimacy that may not be legitimate enough whilst still compromising speed of decision-making under the “ethical licensing” approach). This paper seeks to highlight the various advantages and disadvantages of the three main regulatory options—traditional regulation, ethical licensing and Parthasarathy’s approach—before suggesting an important, yet realistically achievable, amendment of TRIPS and an alternative proposal of a WTO ethics advisory committee.

scholarly journals The complexity of the gene and the precision of CRISPR

Elem Sci Anth ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Esha Shah ◽  
David Ludwig ◽  
Phil Macnaghten
Keyword(s):  
Gene Editing ◽  
Genetically Modified Organisms ◽  
Scientific Literature ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Current State ◽  
Technological Control ◽  
The Status ◽  
State Of Research

The rapid development of CRISPR-based gene editing has been accompanied by a polarized governance debate about the status of CRISPR-edited crops as genetically modified organisms. This article argues that the polarization around the governance of gene editing partly reflects a failure of public engagement with the current state of research in genomics and postgenomics. CRISPR-based gene-editing technology has become embedded in a narrow narrative about the ease and precision of the technique that presents the gene as a stable object under technological control. By tracing the considerably destabilized scientific understanding of the gene in genomics and postgenomics, this article highlights that this publicly mediated ontology strategically avoids positioning the “ease of CRISPR-based editing” in the wider context of the “complexity of the gene.” While this strategic narrowness of CRISPR narratives aims to create public support for gene-editing technologies, we argue that it stands in the way of socially desirable anticipatory governance and open public dialogue about societal promises and the unintended consequences of gene editing. In addressing the polarization surrounding CRISPR-based editing technology, the article emphasizes the need for engagement with the complex state of postgenomic science that avoids strategic simplifications of the scientific literature in promoting or opposing the commercial use of the gene-editing technology.

scholarly journals Protoplast Regeneration and Its Use in New Plant Breeding Technologies

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelsey M. Reed ◽  
Bastiaan O. R. Bargmann
Keyword(s):  
Plant Breeding ◽  
Gene Editing ◽  
Protoplast Regeneration ◽  
Transient Transformation ◽  
Plant Protoplasts ◽  
Pertinent Literature ◽  
Genetic Changes ◽  
Multiple Strategies ◽  
Trait Improvement ◽  
Global Population

The development of gene-editing technology holds tremendous potential for accelerating crop trait improvement to help us address the need to feed a growing global population. However, the delivery and access of gene-editing tools to the host genome and subsequent recovery of successfully edited plants form significant bottlenecks in the application of new plant breeding technologies. Moreover, the methods most suited to achieve a desired outcome vary substantially, depending on species' genotype and the targeted genetic changes. Hence, it is of importance to develop and improve multiple strategies for delivery and regeneration in order to be able to approach each application from various angles. The use of transient transformation and regeneration of plant protoplasts is one such strategy that carries unique advantages and challenges. Here, we will discuss the use of protoplast regeneration in the application of new plant breeding technologies and review pertinent literature on successful protoplast regeneration.

Prelude

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Partha Chatterjee
Keyword(s):  
Land Acquisition ◽  
Development Discourse ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Tribal Communities ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Acquisition Processes ◽  
Contemporary Development ◽  
Land Question

This chapter takes a fresh look at the land question in India. Instead of re-engaging in the rich Marxian transition debate, this volume goes beyond that debate to critically examine theoretically the centrality of land in contemporary development discourse in India. But this chapter shows that land in India is sought increasingly for nonagricultural purposes, resulting in inequality and thus class and caste-based conflicts. The chapters collectively address interrelated questions on the role of the state involved in the process of dispossession of land from peasants and tribal communities arguably for developmental purposes. This chapter provides new analytical insights into the land acquisition processes, their legal-institutional and ethical implications, and captures empirically the multifaceted regional diversity of acquisition experiences in India.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document