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In the biological sciences, the debate concerning dual-use technology just ramped up a notch. Recently, the office of the US Director of National Intelligence [declared] that genome editing constituted a “weapon of mass destruction.”
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The regulatory standards of Western countries, however, do not necessarily prohibit this kind of research.
While Great Britain is often cited as having laws which prohibit germline editing, the British government permits…this research.
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[In addition,] [t]he US does not prohibit the use of germline editing.While appearing to condemn the use of this technology, what the NIH has done here is to allow it to be privately funded. This opens the door for wealthy eugenicists…to create an entirely new strain of human beings…without violating any law.
This may be seen as an aspect of a duality in US law, which appears to discourage while actually is encouraging certain types of activity.
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Before the final weighing in on…genome editing, it might be best to revisit the dual nature of humanity and how power tends to corrupt whomever bears its mantle.
Read full, original post: Gene Editing: The Dual-use Conundrum
