How Ethical is Gene Editing?

 by Mahir Asef

Gene editing is a group of technologies that give scientists the ability to change an organism’s DNA. This is done by inserting, deleting, modifying or replacing DNA in the genome of a living organism.

Gene editing is associated with a number of ethical issues such as safety or equal access. Gene editing is a relatively new scientific concept having developed in the late 1900s, this has meant that many avenues of gene editing have not been fully explored meaning many side effects remain unexplained. Although in 2009 the use of CRISPR was first explored. This method was making targeted changes to the genome and it is being developed in the hope it can lead to new developments in the cancer-curing field. Since 2009 significant progress has been made in this field and several studies have shown that, while the protein targeting system does not stop the growth of cancer, it has no known side effects. This is a massive stride in the right direction for gene editing.

Another concern surrounding gene editing is the ability for all people to access it, many people in the industry fear that only the ultra-wealthy will be able to use it due to the expensive cost. The estimated price per procedure is expected to be around $850,000 per client, and many fear that the ultra-wealthy will use this to become genetically superior to people of less fortunate backgrounds. However this is completely wrong as it is likely that there will, not only, be a limit to the amount of procedures a person can have due to restrictions put in place by the government but also a person cannot endlessly change their genes. There is a limit to how much a person can change themselves and passing this point could be fatal.

I believe the progress made in recent times does show that one day we will reach a stage where gene editing is possible however it is unlikely that it will ever make some people more superior to others as there are no such genes that make someone superior to someone else for example there is not a genius gene.