The Ethics of Genetic Engineering

"The advance of genetic engineering makes it quite conceivable that we will begin to design our own evolutionary progress." -Isaac Asimov, writer

There are many ethical issues associated with Genetic Engineering. For the past ten years, genetic engineering has been at the center of a massive ethical controversy involving aspects of the genome such as cloning. genetically modified foods, genetic screening, gene therapy, and of course the very nature of genetic engineering. Some of the major ethical dilemmas facing nations the scientific community at large today are as follows (ORNL):

Who should have access to genetic information, and how should it be used?

With the advent of genetic screening and the completion of the human genome, we can now look at a person's genetic make up and find out a lot about that person. Information such as sex, eye color, hair color, skin color, will they have any genetic diseases, and will they be susceptible to obesity can all be obtained before a child has even developed beyond a fetus.

While having this information will allow us to treat children for genetic diseases before they develop, there is a fear that in the wrong hands, such information could be disastrous. Imagine that you are trying to get health insurance for you infant child and are denied because a mandatory genetic screening showed that he would very likely develop diabetes by the time he was a teenager. Or rather than having an abortion you wish to give your child up for adoption but are refused because once again, his genes show a sickness in his future?

These are just a few of the questions that are raised by genetic screening. Should institutions such as employers, insurance companies, schools, courts, and the government have access to your genetic information? One possible outcome of such a free flow of genetic information can be seen in the movie I mentioned before entitled Gattica were a man who was genetically screened for a life of poverty beats the system to become a member of the "genetically elite".

Reproductive issues such as use of genetic information in reproductive decision making, and reproductive rights.

If you knew someone was a carrier for the genes that carried Alzheimer's and that your children would have a 1 in 4 chance of developing the disease, would you have a child with that person? Would you abort a child knowing that it would likely develop a genetic disease or some other genetic abnormality? Should parents be able to choose the eye color or hair color of their children? What rights does an unborn child have regardless of it's genetic make up?

Conceptual and philosophical implications regarding human responsibility, free will vs genetic determinism.

Do our genes determine who we are or do we determine who we are? One of the biggest debates in the Psychological community is that of Nature VS Nurture, or which has a bigger impact on a developing a person's personality, their biological make up or the environment in which they are raised. Do we have a choice in what we will become or is it already laid out on some genetic road map? Did I choose to develop my ability to write well or was it genetically programmed into me? Are we really responsible for out actions or are we genetically predisposed toward them? Is it a murder's fault he kills someone or his genes? These are a few of the questions being debated by scientists, psychologists, and philosophers around the world. How much of you is you and not what's in your DNA?

Commercialization of products including property rights (patents, copyrights, and trade secrets) and accessibility of data and materials.

Can companies own genes? If allowed to patent or copyright a gene or gene technology, will that limit our the accessibility and thus development of useful technologies or medical advances? If a company develops a cure for cancer, should it be allowed to charge whatever it wants for the cure? Could this create a genetic "elite"? If a company develops a new technique of recombining DNA more efficiently then is currently in use should they be required to share that information with the scientific community? If a company discovers the genes that create Alzheimer's, should they be able to keep it a secret?

As we continue to struggle to develop new ideas, new techniques, and new medicines in the field of genetic engineering, so will governments, philosophers, scientists, and psychologists continue to wrestle with these important ethical questions. Will we develop into a nation were genetic information is used to help people? Or into a nation were the benefits of Genetic Engineering is only available to the elite, thus creating a society where your status is not determined by the contents of your mind or your desire to better yourself, but by your particular combination of Adenine and Thymine, Guanine and Cytosine base pairs. Will genetic cures be available to all people, or only those that can afford whatever prices the medical companies choose to sell them at? Imagine that scientists develop a "longevity gene" that could double a person's life span. Who should access to it? Your average Joe or only the multi-millionaires? It is up to us as the generation that will face these issues to decide for ourselves and our society what is right and what is wrong.