Identify the genetic interventions, reproduction decisions, and medical technolo
ID: 3505398 • Letter: I
Question
Identify the genetic interventions, reproduction decisions, and medical technology decisions that may affect your scenario. Explain how and why.
Describe how decisions might look from a biblical perspective.
Max and Judy are a married couple. After years of trying to have a baby, they underwent in-vitro fertilization. In total, seven of
Judy’s eggs were fertilized and made into embryos. Two of these embryos were implanted and resulted in the couple’s twins,
now five years old. Even though Max and Judy have decided that they do not want any more children, they have been paying a
yearly fee to keep the five remaining embryos frozen at the fertility clinic. Their yearly fee is due next month. They are unsure if
they should continuing paying to keep the embryos frozen, donate them to science, or just let them be thawed out and die.
What do you think they should do?
Explanation / Answer
Genetic reconstruction and Genetic Engineering are the two basic components under Genetic Interventions.
It is the effort to repair genetic defects at genotypic level in the genes and chromosome rather than at phenotypic level. Also to produce new combinations of genetic traits in offspring.
The following are some techniques which affects our scenario.
1. A number of diseases can be cured by such techniques thus creating a huge impact on our lives.
Type 1 - it aims to cure a condition that is acknowledged to be a disease by genetically altering the non-reproductive cells of a patient.
It is done through bone marrow transplant with an extra step also involved.
For example: the bone marrow cells of a person suffering from sickle cell anaemia may be able to be treated and the patient can be cured of his or her disease.
However this cure wouldn't be able to transmitted to the patient's descendants.
Type 2 - in this type both the somatic and reproductive cells would be treated so that the changes of the cure could be passed on to the patient's descendants.
But it has some concerns.
2. Enhancement of capabilities (which can be considered as unethical).
Type 3 - doubling the efficiency of an individual's long-term memory based on somatic cells alterations.
Type 4 - if the enhancement of individual's long-term memory based on both somatic and reproductive cells, this efficiency can be passed on to at least some of the descendants of the subject.
ETHICAL THEORIES : Pope John Paul || - "a strictly therapeutic intervention whose explicit objective is the healing of various maladies such as those stemming from chromosomal defects will, in principle, be considered desirable, provided it is DIRECTED TO THE TRUE PROMOTION OF THE PERSONAL WELL-BEING OF THE INDIVIDUAL WITHOUT DOING HARM TO HIS INTEGRITY OR WORSENING HIS CONDITIONS OF LIFE. Such intervention would under fall within the logic of the Christian moral tradition."
Ethically unacceptable ;
Type 1 - proposed for use with human patients. Techniques will be qualitatively similar to other biochemical innovations like kidney transplants.
Type 2 - the probable benefit/HARM ratio is not Proportional to Possible benefits.
Type 3 and 4 -
Max and Judy should continue paying the fee because it is a big sin indeed to let them die or to either donate it to science.
To use human embryos or foetesus as the object or intrumentvof experimentation constitutes a crime against their dignity as human beings having a right to the same repect that due child already born to every human person.(Shannon):