Date: 18Nov 2015
SYNOPSIS:
WYNG-Hatton Lecture 2015
It is often said that science makes progress far faster than does ethical thought. The result, we are told, is that efforts to regulate technology always struggle to catch up with developments in laboratories and clinics. New reproductive technologies such as the introduction of therapies to combat disorders of the mitochondrial genome and novel forms of genome editing seem to exemplify this pattern. But what, precisely, are the ethical challenges posed by these technologies, and what tools do we have for thinking about their moral and political implications? Drawing on the UK experience of new mitochondrial therapies, I begin this talk by highlighting the continuing dangers of covert forms of genetic determinism. I move on to address reasonable and unreasonable appeals to ‘slippery slope’ arguments, before concluding with a discussion of how, if at all, we can develop a reasonable understanding of the ‘precautionary principle’, especially when the welfare of future children is at stake. FULL DETAILS
