Society has changed

The prospect of human genetic interventions, like gene therapy, raises our hopes that one day we may be able to combat more effectively the often tragic consequences of the natural lottery of life. There are currently 721 approved gene-therapy trials in America and 304 in Europe.1

New genetic technologies could have an important impact on human health, longevity and even intelligence, and thus we must take seriously the question of what constitutes a just regulation of such technologies. What will the demands of distributive justice be in the post-genetic revolutionary society?

What values and principles should inform the regulation of these new genetic technologies? To adequately answer these questions we need an account of genetic justice. That is, an account of what constitutes a fair distribution of genetic endowments that influence our expected life-time acquisition of natural primary goods (health and vigour, intelligence and imagination). These are goods that every rational person has an interest in (Rawls, 1971).

A necessary condition of a defensible account of genetic justice is that it must track genetic complexity. Genetic complexity encompasses phenomena such as polygenetic traits, gene-gene interactions and complex environmental influences (Alper, 2002, p. 22). By tracking genetic complexity, the principles of genetic justice will (at least for the foreseeable future) be largely indeterminate. Such indeterminacies should not be regarded as a failure to utilise or properly execute
the skills of analytic philosophy. Rather, such indeterminacy simply reflects the realities of the complex nature of both human genetics and the demands of justice in the real, non-ideal world. That is, a world that is characterised by both scarcity and pervasive disadvantage.


footnotes:
1 Taken from Journal of Gene Medicine Clinical trial site at: http://www.wiley.co.uk/genmed/clinical/
2 James Wilson, Editorial, Human Gene Therapy, Vol. 16: 1014, 2005.


Source:
Genetic Justice Must Track Genetic Complexity, Dr Colin Farrelly (Research Fellow in the Centre for the Study of Social Justice, Department of Politics and International Relations, Oxford University) Working Paper Series, SJ005, February 2007




Modified stem cells from muscular dystrophy patients eased symptoms of the disease in mice, says a small study that raises hopes for treating patients with tissue from their own bodies. The mice showed stronger muscles and ran longer on a treadmill than diseased mice that weren't treated. Other experimental treatments for muscular dystrophy have also produced encouraging results in lab animals, but experts said the new study shows promise for yet another approach.

Stem cells may ease muscular dystrophy, NYTimes, By MALCOLM RITTER, 12 Dec 2007