Diseases, Diasabilities, Designer Babies : When does gene editing go too far?

Abstract

CRISPR-Cas9 has undergone significant developments, becoming the most widely used gene editing technique. While this tool has enhanced the feasibility of gene editing, it has also sparked controversies, particularly concerning its application in human embryos. Naturally, many questions arise, such as for what purposes the implementation of gene editing using CRISPR-Cas9 in human embryos is justified. This paper seeks to answer this question by presenting biomedical background information, discussing arguments, and providing evaluations of these arguments. It concludes that CRISPR-Cas9 is an ambiguous piece of technology that is generally justifiable to implement for disease prevention, less so for disability prevention, and not justifiable for non-therapeutic purposes. Keywords: CRISPR-Cas9, Gene editing, Bioethics, Designer babies