Technoethics in Healthcare
As society progresses at an ever-increasing rate, companies focus their time and resources on staying just one step ahead of the competition through better, more effective products that solve every problem from foot pain to skincare. However, with the rise of new technology comes the inevitable ethical questions about future technology, particularly in regards to impactful industries like healthcare.
Given the increasingly large social impacts of new technology like CRISPR-Cas9, this article provides a broad overview of ethical dilemmas regarding future development through this example. The CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats)-Cas9 (CRISPR-associated protein 9) system is a relatively new breakthrough in technology that enables the precise modification of genomes (sections of DNA). The potential medical applications of this promising technology are seemingly limitless; proven in clinical trials around the world, it helps in the prevention and treatment of numerous human diseases ranging from cystic fibrosis and haemophilia to more complex diseases like cancer and
HIV infection. The controversy lies in the DNA-editing capacity of CRISPR-Cas9. Due to the limitations of CRISPR research, there are concerns about possible side-effects of the technology. For example, issues like incomplete editing or inaccuracy have considerable consequences, especially with the modification of key germline cells (egg or sperm cells) as potentially undesirable traits can be passed down through countless future generations. In light of this, current government regulation in most countries limits the application of this technology to somatic cells, all cells other than the aforementioned egg and sperm cells. In other words, this means that the changes introduced with genome editing are made only to specific tissues and will not be passed down from generation to generation. This being said, however, expanding the application of CRISPR-Cas9 to such cells could actually open many doors in biomedicine to offer quick and inexpensive–relative to current medicine–cures to diseases; as such, are the benefits worth the risk of altering these genes?
Furthermore, another major controversy surrounding CRISPR-Cas9
emerges from its application and experimentation on human embryos. Despite being at such an early stage of development, are embryos considered human in the sense that they should not be subject to experimentation? Do such semi-formed humans hold the same moral rights as a human? These questions are essential and relevant in the scientific community today as further development of CRISPR-Cas9 relies heavily on experimentation on human embryos. Ultimately, do the potential advantages of altering the genes of embryos outweigh the moral cost of experimenting on embryos?
Indeed, similar ethical dilemmas are echoed in countless more developing technologies at smaller scales. From issues of privacy with personal health monitoring to the dangers of self-driving cars, there is much to consider in the Age of Technology as we strive to perfect every aspect of our lives.
Author: Suki Yeung, Canada
Teknoethics katika Huduma za Afya: Kadiri jamii inavyoendelea kwa kiwango cha kuongezeka, makampuni yanakusudia wakati na rasilimali zao kukaa hatua moja tu mbele ya ushindani kupitia bidhaa bora, bora zaidi ambazo hutatua kila tatizo kutoka maumivu ya miguu hadi huduma ya ngozi. Hata hivyo, na kuongezeka kwa teknolojia mpya huja maswali ya maadili yasiyoepukika kuhusu teknolojia ya siku zijazo, hasa kuhusiana na viwanda vyenye athari kama vile huduma za afya. Kwa kuzingatia athari kubwa za kijamii za teknolojia mpya kama CRISPR-Cas9, makala hii inatoa muhtasari wa kina wa shida za kimaadili kuhusu maendeleo ya baadaye kupitia mfano huu. CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) ni mfumo wa kisasa wa kuharibu sehemu za DNA. Matumizi ya kitiba ya teknolojia hii ya kuahidi yanaonekana kuwa na mipaka; kuthibitishwa katika majaribio ya kliniki duniani kote, husaidia katika kuzuia na kutibu magonjwa mengi ya binadamu kuanzia cystic fibrosis na hemophilia hadi magonjwa magumu zaidi kama vile saratani na maambukizo ya HIV. Kwa kweli, kuna utata juu ya uwezo wa CRISPR-Cas9 wa kuhariri DNA. Kwa sababu ya mapungufu ya utafiti wa CRISPR, kuna wasiwasi juu ya athari zinazowezekana za teknolojia hiyo. Kwa mfano, masuala kama vile uhariri usio kamili au ukosefu wa usahihi yana matokeo makubwa, haswa na marekebisho ya seli muhimu za germline (yai au seli za shahawa) kama sifa zisizohitajika zinaweza kupitishwa kupitia vizazi vingi vya baadaye. Kwa kuzingatia hili, kanuni za serikali za sasa katika nchi nyingi zinapunguza matumizi ya teknolojia hii kwa seli za somatic, seli zote isipokuwa yai na seli za shahawa zilizotajwa hapo juu. Kwa maneno mengine, hii inamaanisha kwamba mabadiliko yaliyoletwa na uhariri wa genome hufanywa tu kwa tishu maalum na hayatapitishwa kutoka kizazi hadi kizazi. Hata hivyo, kupanua matumizi ya CRISPR-Cas9 kwa seli kama hizo kwa kweli inaweza kufungua milango mingi katika biomedicine kutoa haraka na nafuu - ikilinganishwa na dawa ya sasa - tiba ya magonjwa; kama vile, ni faida thamani ya hatari ya kubadilisha jeni hizi? Kwa kuongezea, utata mwingine mkubwa unaozunguka CRISPR-Cas9 unatokana na matumizi yake na majaribio kwenye viini vya binadamu. Hata kama viini-tete viko katika hatua ya mapema ya ukuzi, je, vinaonwa kuwa wanadamu kwa maana kwamba havipaswi kufanyiwa majaribio? Je, wanadamu hao waliotengenezwa nusu-kiumbe wana haki zilezile za kiadili kama mwanadamu? Maswali haya ni muhimu na muhimu katika jamii ya kisayansi leo kama maendeleo zaidi ya CRISPR-Cas9 hutegemea sana majaribio juu ya viini vya binadamu. Kwa kweli, faida za kubadilisha chembe za urithi za viini-tete ni kubwa kuliko hasara za maadili za kufanya majaribio juu ya viini-tete. Kwa kweli, matatizo kama hayo ya kiadili yanapatikana katika teknolojia nyingi zinazositawi ambazo zinaendelezwa kwa kiwango kidogo. Kutoka kwa masuala ya faragha na ufuatiliaji wa afya ya kibinafsi hadi hatari za magari ya kuendesha gari, kuna mengi ya kuzingatia katika Enzi ya Teknolojia tunapojitahidi kukamilisha kila kipengele cha maisha yetu. Mwandishi: Suki Yeung, Kanada