Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comment
. 2021 Nov:51 Suppl 2:S34-S41.
doi: 10.1002/hast.1318.

Does Gene Editing in the Wild Require Broad Public Deliberation?

Gregory E Kaebnick
Comment

Does Gene Editing in the Wild Require Broad Public Deliberation?

Gregory E Kaebnick. Hastings Cent Rep. 2021 Nov.

Abstract

How strong is the argument for requiring public deliberation by very large publics-at national or even global levels-before moving forward with efforts to use gene editing on wild populations of plants or animals? Should there be a general moratorium on any such efforts until such broad public deliberation has been successfully carried out? This article works toward recommendations about the need for and general framing of broad public deliberation. It finds that broad public deliberation is highly desirable but not flatly necessary before moving forward with any local cases of gene editing in the wild. It also finds that broad public deliberation would be most helpful in generating very general guidance and is unlikely to be appropriate for specific cases. Broad public deliberation is most helpful for cases that involve higher levels of uncertainty and moral ambiguity, but separating out a distinct class of cases for deliberation is not yet possible.

Keywords: bioethics; de-extinction; democratic deliberation; gene drives; gene editing; public deliberation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment on

  • Global citizen deliberation on genome editing.
    Dryzek JS, Nicol D, Niemeyer S, Pemberton S, Curato N, Bächtiger A, Batterham P, Bedsted B, Burall S, Burgess M, Burgio G, Castelfranchi Y, Chneiweiss H, Church G, Crossley M, de Vries J, Farooque M, Hammond M, He B, Mendonça R, Merchant J, Middleton A, Rasko JEJ, Van Hoyweghen I, Vergne A. Dryzek JS, et al. Science. 2020 Sep 18;369(6510):1435-1437. doi: 10.1126/science.abb5931. Science. 2020. PMID: 32943515 No abstract available.

References

    1. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Gene Drives on the Horizon: Advancing Science, Navigating Uncertainty, and Aligning Research with Public Values (Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2016), 142.
    1. Novel and Exceptional Technology and Research Advisory Committee, Gene Drives in Biomedical Research Working Group, Draft Report of the Gene Drives in Biomedical Research Working Group (Washington, DC: National Institutes of Health, 2021), 35.
    1. J. Dryzek et al., “Global Citizen Deliberation on Genome Editing,” Science 369 (2020): 1435-37.
    1. J. S. Fishkin, Democracy When the People Are Thinking: Revitalizing Our Politics through Public Deliberation (New York: Oxford University Press, 2018).
    1. M. Burgess, K. O'Doherty, and D. Secko, “Biobanking in British Columbia: Discussions of the Future of Personalized Medicine through Deliberative Public Engagement,” Personalized Medicine 5, no. 3 (2008): 285-96.

LinkOut - more resources