18 Human Genetic Engineering
Melissa Nolan
18.1 Introduction
Keywords
- Gene – units of heredity transferred from a parent to offspring, contained in DNA
- Gene editing – deliberate manipulation of the genetic material to achieve desired results
- Human Genetic Engineering (HGE) – gene editing applied to human cells
- CRISPR/Cas9 – gene editing technology derived from bacterial immune system
- Germline gene editing – a process which alters the genome of an embryo, so that the entire organism has altered genes and can pass those genes down to offspring
- Somatic gene editing – a process which alters the genome of just a few cells in an organism, so that the altered genes are not passed down to offspring
- Recombinant DNA – genetic material from multiple sources
- Congenital disease – a disease present from birth, typically caused by some genetic factor
- Eugenics – the study of how to arrange reproduction within a human population to increase the occurrence of heritable characteristics regarded as desirable
- Technological determinism – technology determines the development of its social structure and cultural values or regulations
- Cultural determinism – the culture we are raised presents certain issues which necessitate the development of a specific technology
- Legacy thinking – using thinking strategies and actions which are outdated and no longer serve the purpose they once did
- Antibodies – proteins produced by an organism as a result of their immune response
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, students should be able to:
- Understand the basic principles of gene editing and their applications.
- Understand the history of gene editing
- Identify potential ethical concerns regarding human genetic engineering
Those beautiful blue eyes you inherited from your mother are actually a result of a complex science known as Genetics. The scientific field of genetics studies genes in our DNA. Genes are units of heredity transferred from a parent to offspring and determine some characteristic of offspring. Your genes are responsible for coding all of your traits- including hair color, eye color, and so on. In recent years, scientists began exploring the concept of gene editing, which is the deliberate manipulation of genetic material to achieve desired results. Gene editing can potentially alter any given trait in an organism- from height to hair texture to susceptibility for certain diseases.
Gene editing applied to humans is referred to as Human Genetic Engineering, or HGE. There is extensive debate in and out of the scientific community regarding the ethics of HGE. Much of this debate stems from how this technology will affect society, and vice versa. Individuals may harbor concerns about the rise of “designer babies” or scientists “playing God” by determining the traits of an individual. On the contrary, HGE presents potential cures to diseases caused by genetic mutations. Human Genetic Engineering (HGE) is a novel technology which pre