The utilitarian temptation in gene editing | Science
The recent gene-editing trial led by Zilong Qiu and colleagues in Shanghai (“A fatal reaction,” B. Borrell, News Feature, 23 July, 10.1126/science.aek8000) was not only a case of failed oversight; it also illustrates a recurring moral danger in biomedical research. Such trials can be driven by two mutually reinforcing motivations: the pursuit of professional recognition and a crude utilitarian rationale that risky experiments are justified because, if successful, they may benefit large numbers of present and future patients. This second motivation, which is especially powerful in biomedicine, can cloak self-interest in moral language and encourage researchers to discount evidence of danger to the individuals enrolled as subjects. Gene-editing interventions, in particular, may appear morally elevated because their promised benefits aim to enhance general welfare for all, including future generations, regardless of nationality or group identity. For this reason, the appeal to future benefit requires strict ethical limits.
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