Researchers views about perceived harms and benefits of gene editing: A study from the MENA region
BACKGROUND: The development of gene editing technologies is very promising for the treatment of genetic diseases. However, gene editing can be also used to enhance the characteristics of healthy individuals. This study aims to determine ethical challenges that may face the constitution of gene editi...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Elsevier
2021
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8095113/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33997394 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06860 |
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author | Abuhammad, Sawsan Khabour, Omar F. Alzoubi, Karem H. |
author_facet | Abuhammad, Sawsan Khabour, Omar F. Alzoubi, Karem H. |
author_sort | Abuhammad, Sawsan |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: The development of gene editing technologies is very promising for the treatment of genetic diseases. However, gene editing can be also used to enhance the characteristics of healthy individuals. This study aims to determine ethical challenges that may face the constitution of gene editing in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. METHODS: An online discussion forum about the ethical challenges of applying gene editing technologies was held. The participants were a group of researchers (n = 28) from the MENA region. RESULTS: Most of the participants agreed on the importance of gene editing for the treatment of genetic diseases. However, participants had concerns regarding the use of gene editing to enhance the characteristics of healthy individuals such as athletic abilities and intelligence. Among ethical issues that were raised are justice, harm, beneficence, discrimination, conflict with religion and culture, and lack of regulations. CONCLUSION: Several ethical issues were raised for using gene editing technologies based on the perception of biomedical researchers from the MENA region. Therefore, the scientific community and other interested bioethical, social, legal, and governmental parties should be provided with a detailed guide from the scientists in this area for future uses of this technology. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8095113 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | Elsevier |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-80951132021-05-13 Researchers views about perceived harms and benefits of gene editing: A study from the MENA region Abuhammad, Sawsan Khabour, Omar F. Alzoubi, Karem H. Heliyon Research Article BACKGROUND: The development of gene editing technologies is very promising for the treatment of genetic diseases. However, gene editing can be also used to enhance the characteristics of healthy individuals. This study aims to determine ethical challenges that may face the constitution of gene editing in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. METHODS: An online discussion forum about the ethical challenges of applying gene editing technologies was held. The participants were a group of researchers (n = 28) from the MENA region. RESULTS: Most of the participants agreed on the importance of gene editing for the treatment of genetic diseases. However, participants had concerns regarding the use of gene editing to enhance the characteristics of healthy individuals such as athletic abilities and intelligence. Among ethical issues that were raised are justice, harm, beneficence, discrimination, conflict with religion and culture, and lack of regulations. CONCLUSION: Several ethical issues were raised for using gene editing technologies based on the perception of biomedical researchers from the MENA region. Therefore, the scientific community and other interested bioethical, social, legal, and governmental parties should be provided with a detailed guide from the scientists in this area for future uses of this technology. Elsevier 2021-04-23 /pmc/articles/PMC8095113/ /pubmed/33997394 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06860 Text en © 2021 The Author(s) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Research Article Abuhammad, Sawsan Khabour, Omar F. Alzoubi, Karem H. Researchers views about perceived harms and benefits of gene editing: A study from the MENA region |
title | Researchers views about perceived harms and benefits of gene editing: A study from the MENA region |
title_full | Researchers views about perceived harms and benefits of gene editing: A study from the MENA region |
title_fullStr | Researchers views about perceived harms and benefits of gene editing: A study from the MENA region |
title_full_unstemmed | Researchers views about perceived harms and benefits of gene editing: A study from the MENA region |
title_short | Researchers views about perceived harms and benefits of gene editing: A study from the MENA region |
title_sort | researchers views about perceived harms and benefits of gene editing: a study from the mena region |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8095113/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33997394 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06860 |
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