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. 2022 Jun;5(3):358-363.
doi: 10.1089/crispr.2021.0053. Epub 2022 May 17.

Vulnerability and the Ethics of Human Germline Genome Editing

Markus K Labude  1 , Vicki Xafis  1 , Poh San Lai  2 , Catherine Mills  3
Affiliations

Vulnerability and the Ethics of Human Germline Genome Editing

Markus K Labude et al. CRISPR J. 2022 Jun.

Abstract

The concept of vulnerability has played an important role in theoretical bioethics as well as in numerous authoritative guidelines on research ethics. The concept helps to identify situations in which research participants and other individuals may be at a heightened risk of experiencing harm. However, existing guidance documents on the ethics of human germline gene editing largely fail to make any reference to considerations of vulnerability. In this article, we discuss this oversight and we highlight the role that vulnerability can play in ethical debates about human heritable genome editing. Future guidance documents on germline gene editing should pay attention to considerations of vulnerability and reference these appropriately.

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Conflict of interest statement

No competing financial interests exist.

References

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