Germline Modification and the Burden of Human Existence

Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics

Volumn 25, Issue 1, 2016, Pages 6-18

  Harris, John ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ANIMAL; CLONING; ETHICS; EUROPEAN UNION; GERM CELL; HUMAN; HUMAN RIGHTS; LEGISLATION AND JURISPRUDENCE; MITOCHONDRIAL DISEASES; REPRODUCTIVE PROCEDURE; RESEARCH ETHICS; UNITED KINGDOM; UNITED STATES;

ANIMALS; CLONING, ORGANISM; ETHICS, RESEARCH; EUROPEAN UNION; GERM CELLS; HUMAN RIGHTS; HUMANS; MITOCHONDRIAL DISEASES; REPRODUCTIVE TECHNIQUES; UNITED KINGDOM; UNITED STATES;

EID: 84949056749     PISSN: 09631801     EISSN: 14692147     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0963180115000237     Document Type: Review

References (46)

1. Harris J. On Cloning. London: Routledge; 2004: 8-9.
2. See Harris J. In Vitro fertilisation: The ethical issues. The Philosophical Quarterly 1983; 33: 132.
3. Brian K. The amazing story of IVF: 35 years and five million babies later. The Guardian 2013 July 12; available at http://www.theguardian. com/society/2013/jul/12/story-ivf-fivemillion-babies (last accessed 1 Apr 2015).
4. "Test-Tube baby" Brown hails pioneers on 35th birthday. BBC News 2013 Jul 25; available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23448665 (last accessed 3 Apr 2015).
5. Wilmut I, Schnieke AE, McWhir J, Kind AJ, Campbell KHS. Viable offspring derived from fetal and adult mammalian cells. Cloning and Stem Cells 2007; 9 (1): 3-7.
6. See National Bioethics Advisory Commission. Cloning Human Beings: Report and Recommendations of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission. Rockville, MD; 1997 Jun; available at https://bioethicsarchive.georgetown. edu/nbac/pubs/cloning1/cloning.pdf (last accessed 8 Apr 2015).
7. Bush GW. President discusses stem cell research. The White House; 2001 Aug 9; available at http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives. gov/news/releases/2001/08/20010809-2.html (last accessed 8 Apr 2015).
8. Compassion in World Farming. Farm Animal Cloning: A Compassion in World Farming Report; 2010, at 24; available at https://www.ciwf. org.uk/media/3816935/farm-Animal-cloningreport. pdf (last accessed 8 Apr 2015).
9. Based on birthrate figures from http://www. ecology.com/birth-death-rates/(last accessed 3 Apr 2015).
10. Darnovsky M. World view column: A slippery slope to human germline modifi-cation. Nature 2013;499:127. doi:10.1038/499127a; available at http://www.nature. com/polopoly-fs/1.13358!/menu/main/topColumns/topLeftColumn/pdf/499127a.pdf (last accessed 7 Apr 2015).
11. Harris J. Wonderwoman and Superman: The Ethics of Human Biotechnology. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1992, chap. 8.
12. Vogel G, Stokstad E. U.K. Parliament approves controversial three-parent mitochondrial gene therapy. ScienceInsider 2015 Feb 3; available at http://news.sciencemag.org/biology/2015/02/u-k-parliament-Approves-controversialthree-parent-mitochondrial-gene-Therapy (last accessed 7 Apr 2015).
13. The National Academies. Project information: Ethical and Social Policy Considerations of Novel Techniques for Prevention of Maternal Transmission of Mitochondrial DNA Diseases. National Academies Current Projects; 2015; available at http://www8.nationalacademies.org/cp/projectview.aspx?key=49648 (last accessed 7 Apr 2015).
14. UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights; 1997 Nov 11; available at http://www.refworld. org/docid/404226144.html (last accessed 9 Apr 2015).
15. Harris J. Enhancing Evolution. Princeton, NJ, and Oxford: Princeton University Press; 2007.
16. Dawkins R. The Selfish Gene. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1976.
17. Cyranoski D, Reardon S. Chinese scientists genetically modify human embryos. Nature 2015 Apr 22; available at http://www.nature. com/news/chinese-scientists-geneticallymodify-human-embryos-1.17378 (last accessed 25 Apr 2015).
18. Reardon S. Ethics of embryo editing paper divides scientists. Nature 2015 Apr 24; available at http://www.nature. com/news/ethics-of-embryo-editing-paperdivides-scientists-1.17410 (last accessed 25 Apr 2015)
19. Baltimore D, Berg P, Botchan M, Carroll D, Charo RA, Church G, et al. A prudent path forward for genomic engineering and germline gene modification. Science; forthcoming; available at http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2015/03/18/science.aab1028. full (last accessed 26 Mar 2015)
20. Cyranoski D. Ethics of embryo editing divides scientists. Nature 2015 Mar;519:272; available at http://www.nature.com/news/ethics-of-embryoediting-divides-scientists-1.17131 (last accessed 26 Mar 2015).
21. Lanphier E, Urnov F, Haecker SE, Werner M, Smolenski J. Dont edit the human germ line. Nature 2015 Mar;519:410-11; available at http://www.nature.com/news/don-T-edit-The-human-germ-line-1.17111 (last accessed 26 Mar 2015).
22. Vogel G. Embryo engineering alarm. Science 2015; 347 (6228): 1301; available at http://www.sciencemag.org/content/347/6228/1301.full (last accessed 26 Mar 2015).
23. The Human Fertilization and Embryology Act 1990 c.37; available at http://www. legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/37/contents (last accessed 7 Apr 2015).
24. Human Fertilization and Embryology Act 2008 c.22; available at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2008/22/contents (last accessed 7 Apr 2015).
25. Department of Health and Social Security. Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Human Fertilisation and Embryology (The Warnock Report); Cm 9314; 1984 July; available at http://www.hfea.gov.uk/docs/Warnock-Report-of-The-Committee-of-Inquiry-into-Human-Fertilisation-And-Embryology-1984. pdf (last accessed 7 Apr 2015).
26. Lisa Jardine, quoted in Sample I. Regulator to consult public over plans for new fertility treatments. The Guardian 2012 Sep 17; available at http://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/sep/17/genetics-embryo-dna-mitochondrialdisease? newsfeed=true (last accessed 8 Apr 2015).
27. The March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation. March of Dimes Global Report on Birth Defects. New York: White Plains; 2006.
28. Boklage CE. Survival probability of human conceptions from fertilization to term. International Journal of Fertility 1990; 35 (2): 75-94.
29. Leridon H. Human Fertility: The Basic Components. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 1977
30. Green RM. The Human Embryo Research Debates. New York: Oxford University Press; 2001
31. Macklon NS, Geraedts JP, Fauser BC. Conception to ongoing pregnancy: The "black box" of early pregnancy loss. Human Reproduction Update 2002; 8(4): 333-43.
32. Edmonds DK, Lindsay KS, Miller JF, Williamson E, Wood PJ. Early embryonic mortality in women. Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey 1983; 38 (7): 433-4.
33. Roberts CJ, Lowe CR. Where have all the conceptions gone? Lancet 1975; 1: 498-9.
34. Bovens L. The rhythm method and embryonic death. Journal of Medical Ethics 2006; 32 (6): 355-7.
35. Kong A, Frigge ML, Masson G, Besenbacher S, Sulem P, Magnusson G, et al. Rate of de novo mutations and the importance of fathers age to disease risk. Nature 2012; 488 (7412): 471-5.
36. Palacios-González C, Harris J, Testa G. Multiplex parenting: IVG and the generations to come. Journal of Medical Ethics 2014; 4 0 (11): 7 5 2-8. d o i: 1 0. 1136/medethics-2013-101810.
37. Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. Meeting #2: Public Workshop of the Committee on Ethical and Social Policy Considerations of Novel Techniques for Prevention of Maternal Transmission of Mitochondrial DNA Diseases; available at http://www.iom.edu/Activities/Research/MitoEthics/2015-MAR-31.aspx (last accessed 7 Apr 2015).
38. Parfit D. Reasons and Persons. Oxford: Clarendon Press; 1984, at part 4, chap. 16, 351-77.
39. Harris J. How to Be Good. Oxford: Oxford University Press; forthcoming.
40. Harris J. Rights and reproductive choice. In: Harris J, Holm S, eds. The Future of Human Reproduction: Choice and Regulation. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1998: 5-37.
41. Harris J. The Value of Life. London: Routledge; 1985.
42. National Institutes of Health. Statement on NIH funding of research using gene-editing technologies in human embryos. The NIH Director; 2015 Apr 29; available at http://www.nih.gov/about/director/04292015-statement-gene-editing-Technologies.htm (last accessed 18 May 2015).
43. Reardon S. US Congress moves to block human-embryo editing. Nature 2015 June 25; available at http://www.nature.com/news/us-congress-moves-To-block-human-embryoediting-1.17858 (last accessed 27 June 2015).
44. The Company of Biologists. Workshops: Transgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance; 2015 Oct 4-7; available at http://workshops. biologists.com/transgenerational-epigeneticinheritance/(last accessed 27 June 2015).
45. Wilde O. The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People. iBooks; available at https://itunes. apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewBook?id=4FFC4D4B8607BEFA334DCC 3173E9E585.
46. Brecht B. Life of Galileo. Willett J, trans. London: Methuen; 1994, at scene 14, 108-9.