Ethics, Values, and Responsibility: Genome editing from a medical perspective

The editors of the AMA journal of ethics expressed their views on human genome editing in a letter published in December 2019. Their medical perspective on the issue is intriguing, as they see it is their profession's responsibility to cure disease and alleviate suffering wherever possible. Undoubtedly, genome editing is a great leap forward in medically treating many people. Specifically, they make the distinction between somatic cell editing and germline editing. They state that while somatic cell editing should pose little to no ethical dilemma, it is irresponsible to artificially edit the genome of generations of humans that don't exist, citing potential eugenic uses for the technology. One thing is clear to the authors: medicine has a responsibility to treat people using every tool at their disposal, but not necessarily at the cost of human rights and dignity.


https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/ethics-values-and-responsibility-human-genome-editing/2019-12
Ryan McRae Potluck 3/10/20