An Interdisciplinary Approach to Building an Ethical Toolkit for an Internationally Recognized Path Forward That Addresses The Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications of Heritable Human Genome Intervention.

Abstract

This thesis, on human genome editing takes a global perspective, with people, knowledge, and technology flowing across borders, the potential is there for ethically controversial practices to flow toward less restrictive regulatory environments. Several renowned national organizations now focus on current societal debates, principles, and recommendations, with respect to the ethical, legal, and social implications of heritable human genome intervention. (empirical) The question is are the resulting principles and recommendations practical? A further concern is that none of these organizations are explicit with respect to the type of international dialogue that is required going forward. Each of the participating groups brings viable ethical constructs to the discussion in an effort to understand what is common, and what the points of difference are. (normative theoretical) The challenge is to understand if these points of difference are tolerable, and if so, what then is beneficial; this is how to use an ethical toolkit to build an internationally recognized path forward. This work will identify a potential meta-morality as a solution for the central challenge for social existence in getting cooperative interest to rise above individual interest. (applicable) This work will assist in determining whether the guidelines and principles recommended by one national institution are appropriate for human genome editing on a global scale. (applicable)