Societal Debates About Emerging Genetic Technologies: Toward a Science of Public Engagement
By Christopher D. Wirz,
Environmental Communication
| 09. 29. 2020
Gene editing is an inherently wicked problem
Societal debates about the applications of novel gene editing techniques like CRISPR in agriculture, wildlife, and humans have only rarely focused on questions that have correct or even factual answers. Of course, many discussions within the bench scientific community are focused on technical risks and benefits and the weighing of the latter against the former in the desire to develop climate- or pest-resistant crops (National Academies of Sciences, 2016) or therapies for devastating genetically-inherited diseases in humans (National Academy of Sciences & National Academy of Medicine, 2017).
While public debates are ideally informed by these scientific considerations, they are – by nature – much broader in scope. Gene drives developed to limit the spread of vector-borne illness carried by mosquitos, for instance, have raised concerns about the morality of “messing with nature” by editing the genome of living organisms for dominant traits, about creating imbalances in already fragile ecosystems, and about unintended and potentially irreversible long-term consequences for humans and nature (Brossard et al., 2019). At the same time, pesticides...
Related Articles
By Ian Sample, The Guardian | 07.04.2024
Biological models of human embryos that can develop heartbeats, spinal cords and other distinctive features will be governed by a code of practice in Britain to ensure that researchers work on them responsibly.
Made from stem cells, they mimic, to...
By Kevin Davies, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News | 06.27.2024
Physician-scientist Matthew Porteus, MD, PhD, has been a mainstay in the genome editing field for more than two decades. He trained at Stanford University Medical School before completing his residency and hematology/oncology fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital/Dana Farber Cancer Institute...
By Peter Aldhous, Scientific American | 07.02.2024
In June a notice posted on the website of the journal Nature set a new scientific record. It withdrew what is now the most highly cited research paper ever to be retracted.
The study, published in 2002 by Catherine Verfaillie...
By Robert F. Service, Science | 07.04.2024
Image by Ed Uthman from Flickr
Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved two gene therapy procedures that can treat and, in some cases essentially cure sickle cell disease, a genetic blood disorder that causes pain and...