The annual achievement as a factor of ethical uncertainty

2015/12/28 Galarraga Aiestaran, Ana - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Genetika
• Bioteknologia
• Etika

Like every year, scientific journals have compiled a list of the main scientific-technological achievements, and most of them have chosen the same theme for their first place: Technique CRISPR. This gene transformation technique has aroused great hope and, although it has already been mentioned in previous years, this year has become the top of the list.

The first is for two reasons. On the one hand, the refinement of many techniques, together with its simplification and encompassing, make it now accessible to any laboratory, which opens up many possibilities. On the other hand, some Chinese researchers announced their application in spring in human embryos.

This research carried out in China caused many doubts and reticence, especially from the ethical point of view. The researchers showed the experimental use of discarded embryos in artificial fertilisation, but this explanation was not enough for most of the scientific community. The prestigious scientific journal Nature, for example, decided not to publish this type of research, and many scientists called for prohibiting the application of the technique in humans until a strong international ethical regulation was agreed.

However, it will not be easy to agree on the rules: at the beginning of this month 500 scientists from 20 countries met to talk about it and it became clear that among them there are extreme opinions.

Therefore, it seems that next year we will have news related to the technique of CRISPR and surely not only refer to the steps taken in the scientific field, but also to the ethical question.

Published in the newspaper Berria.