Philosophy
302
Sonoma
State University
6 July
2004
Abstract:
Genetic Engineering and Ethics
Biology
The genetic code is basically 4
‘letters’, and a sequence of 3 DNA ‘letters’ translates to a specific protein
‘building block’ (amino acid). Genetic sequence information is transcribed
from DNA to RNA inside the cell, then translated from RNA to protein.
Protein directly affects the structure and function of the organism.
Viruses contain DNA. They specialize
in depositing their DNA into host cells. Humans can take modified DNA, put it
in some viruses, and send the viruses to a group of target cells to deliver the
modified DNA. This is called using the virus as a vector.
Research,
Applications, Ethics
The responsibilities,
objectives, and relationships among research and medical professionals,
research institutions, and industrial concerns can create conflicts of
interest.
Applications of
genetic engineering include protein engineering, transgenics, gene therapy, and
various biomedical applications. Protein engineering is a
well-established industry that supplies important health care compounds like
insulin and interferon. Attempts are underway to develop new, safe and
effective vaccines using genetic design and production methods.
Transgenics
may be thought of as high-tech selective breeding of plant and animal stocks
that holds great potential for business profits in the enhancement of health
and life-quality for humans. Transgenics also poses substantial risks and
ethical concerns.
Gene
therapy aims to provide new,
effective medical treatments for genetically-based disorders. A class of
treatments (somatic monogenic) which is thought to be relatively safe and hold
relatively good promise of success, has been underfunded and underdeveloped
relative to another class of treatments (somatic multifactorial) which target -
with relatively less promise - prevalent, high-profile diseases like cancer.
Gene therapy has been successful in treating cystic fibrosis patients, and the
list of diseases and disorders known to be candidates for gene-therapeutic
methods is impressive.
As
is the case with transgenics, there are sobering risks and potential for
unintended consequences associated with gene therapy. Random genetic mutations and spontaneous recombinations
occur on a regular basis in nature, but these processes could initiate
poorly-understood and difficult-to-predict changes in the physiology and gene
profile of a sub-population of genetically-modified organisms. This kind of
phenomenon is capable of producing ecological shifts in the population’s
habitat – even radical shifts, which could in turn propagate to the ecosystem
and species levels of organization. (One “nightmare” scenario is the unintended
generation of a “super-competitor” strain that would irrevocably alter
ecosystem relations, even to the extinction of one or more species.)
Germ-line
modification is at once a taboo and a
“Holy Grail” of genetic engineering, due to the profound implications (doing
much good and risking great harm) of modifying the hereditary
characteristics of an entire population in all succeeding generations – rather
than the genes of only selected individuals in a single generation, as
is the case with the more conservative somatic-cell techniques, which do
not modify the DNA of reproductive cells.
Two
bioethical concepts related to gene therapy are basic agency (“normal”
life quality) and secondary enhancement. What issues might arise in a
society where genetic disorders were safely and routinely cured? What if a
catalog of enhancement treatments were available – even encouraged – on a mass
scale?
Two
bioethical concepts relevant to all of genetic engineering are duty to
future generations and duty to the environment.