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On Gene Editing, Disease, and Disability

Photo of a piece of paper showing base pairs

This article has a set of discussion questions tailored for classroom use. Click here to download them. To see a full list of articles with discussion questions and other resources, visit our “Educational Resources” page.


On November 29, 2018, MIT Tech Review reported that at Harvard University’s Stem Cell Institute, “IVF doctor and scientist Werner Neuhausser says he plans to begin using CRISPR, the gene-editing tool, to change the DNA code inside sperm cells.” This is the first stage towards gene editing embryos, which is itself a controversial goal, given the debates that rose in response to scientists in China making edits at more advanced stages in fetal development.

Frequently the concern over editing human genes involves issues of justice, such as developing the unchecked power to produce humanity that would exist solely to service some population – for example, organ farming. The moral standing of clones and worries over the dignity of humanity when such power is developed get worked over whenever a new advancement in gene editing is announced.

The response, or the less controversial use of our growing control over genetic offspring, is the potential to cure diseases and improve the quality of life for a number of people. However, this use of genetic intervention may not be as morally unambiguous as it seems at first glance.

Since advanced testing was developed, the debate about the moral status of selective abortion has been fraught. Setting aside the ethics of abortion itself, would choosing to bring a child into the world that does not have a particular illness, syndrome, or condition rather than one that did be an ethical thing for a parent to do? Ethicists are divided.

Some are concerned with the expressive power of such a decision – does making this selection express prejudice against those with the condition or a judgment about the quality of the life that individuals living with the condition experience?

Others are concerned with the practical implications of many people making selections for children without some conditions. It is impractical to imagine that widespread use of such selection would completely eradicate the conditions, and therefore one worry could be that the individuals with conditions in the hypothetical society where widespread selection takes place will be further stigmatized, invisible, or have fewer resources. Also, the prejudice against conditions that involve disability might lead to selections that result in lack of diversity in the human population based on misunderstandings of quality of life.

Of course, on the other side of these discussions is the intuitive preference or obligation for parents or those in charge of raising people in society to promote health and well-being. Medicine is traditionally thought to aim at treating and preventing conditions that deviate from health and wellness; both are complex concepts, to be sure, but preventing disease or creating a society that suffers less from disease seems to fall within the domain of appropriate medical intervention.

How does this advancement in gene editing relate to the debate in selective birth? The Harvard example seeks to prevent Alzheimer’s disease, taking sperm and intervening to prevent disease. Lack of human diversity, pernicious ablest expressive power, and negative impact on those that suffer from the disease are the main concerns with intervening for the purported sake of health.

Opinion: Kevin Williamson Is Right (About One Thing)

photograph of an anti-abortion protest

Kevin Williamson, a flame-throwing National Review contributor for many years, was recently hired by The Atlantic as part of the magazine’s effort to include conservative voices, and then he was fired. The bridge too far was not the fact that he had once tweeted out a call for women to be hanged for having abortions, but the fact that this wasn’t just an impulsive tweet. In a podcast unearthed by his critics, he can be heard saying that he does indeed think women who have abortions should be treated however we treat murderers. He also expresses doubts about capital punishment, so—rejoice?—the bit about hanging was just a rhetorical flourish.

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The Reasoning Behind the $417 Million Baby Powder Lawsuit

Photos of Johnson's baby powder.

Last month, according to the Los Angeles Times, a court ordered Johnson & Johnson, purveyor of several household health and beauty products, to pay $417 million in damages to Eva Echeverria, a 63-year-old Los Angeles resident who claims the company failed to warn her and other consumers about the cancer risk of their talc-based products, such as their baby powder.

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Taxing Sugar to Fight Obesity

Despite small-scale efforts from restaurants in metropolitan areas to display calorie counts on menus and make smaller soda cups, the obesity rates in America haven’t changed much. Although obesity trends in most states have stagnated, the results of a food-obsessed culture are alarming. Since 1980, childhood obesity has tripled, and obesity rates among young teenagers aged 12 to 19 have quadrupled from five to 20 percent.

The average American gets 16% of their calories from added sugar. This startling statistic is 6% more than the Food and Drug Administration’s recommendation, and 11% percent higher than the World Health Organization’s maximum recommendation. Since sugar is known to contribute to the obesity epidemic, cities such as New York and Philadelphia are taking measures to help discourage excess sugar intake in consumers. However, a nationwide tax is likely needed to seriously fight obesity. What are the benefits and potential consequences of having a federal excise tax on sugar?

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The Nutritional Ethics of Hidden Vegetables

As a child, I distinctly remember sitting at my dining room table for hours and hours wishing for the tiny amount of broccoli on my almost empty plate to disappear so I could be excused from the table. If it was up to my picky self, I would have grilled cheese or pizza for every single meal, completely forgoing any sufficiently nutritious food. As for many parents, forcing me to eat fruits and vegetables became a consistent struggle throughout my entire childhood. Covering broccoli with cheese or placing vegetables in a batch of buttered noodles were just a few tactics my parents implemented in order for me to have a balanced diet.

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By Means of Human Selection: The Birth of Three-Parent Babies

In the late 1990’s, doctors at the St. Barnabus Institute in New Jersey developed a groundbreaking new technique—they successfully produced a child using the genetic material of three different donor parents.  The motivation for the innovation was to help certain at-risk couples have healthy biological children of their own.  The procedure, if successful, blocks the spread of disease that is sometimes passed through mitochondrial DNA—a genetic contribution passed to children by their biological mothers.  Some women pass on mitochondrial DNA that causes muscular dystrophy or respiratory problems.  Leigh Syndrome, a fatal disease, is also passed through mitochondrial DNA.  

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Health Transparency for Presidential Candidates

From Grover Cleveland’s secret oral surgery to First Lady Edith Wilson running the Executive Branch after her husband, Woodrow Wilson, suffered a stroke, the legacy of medical cover-ups among Presidents and candidates continues. This past weekend, Hillary Clinton left a 9/11 memorial early after feeling overheated and dizzy, as well as losing her balance. Clinton’s staff later released that Clinton had been diagnosed with pneumonia the previous Friday and ignored her doctor’s request of a five-day break from the campaign.

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Supreme Court Strikes Down Texas Abortion Law

On June 27th, the Supreme Court decided on the hotly debated case, Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, which dealt with access to abortion clinics in Texas. In 2013, Texas proposed a law requiring that all abortion clinics in the state hire only doctors that have “admitting privileges at local hospitals and meet outpatient surgical center standards.” This law would have shut down nearly 30 of Texas’ 40 abortion clinics, a state home to 5.4 million women in the reproductive age range.

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Land of Plenty?

It’s no secret that living a healthy lifestyle is a key factor when it comes to leading a long, happy life. Public discourse on this topic has grown increasingly over time with diet trends and programs, nutritional supplements, and even pharmaceutical and medical solutions becoming a part of our everyday lives. We are infiltrated on a daily basis with encouragement to put healthier things into our bodies in the form of TV and film references, news outlets, social media, and advertisements, just to name a few. First Lady Michelle Obama’s advocacy for creating a healthier generation, such as her “Let’s Move” campaign and mandated modifications to school lunches, has become very visible in the public eye and is a well-known aspect of her work in the White House. All of these factors combined, plus many more, make it clear that as a society, U.S. citizens are more aware than ever of the importance of staying active and eating well.

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