GENETIC ENHANCEMENT AND THE CRISPR-CAS9 CASE: AN ATTEMPT FOR AN AGENCY APPROACH
In this paper we focus on CRISPR-Cas9, a specific technique of genetic engineering. Our hypothesis is to consider it as a peculiar case of Human Enhancement Technology (HET), which we propose to frame within the Agency Approach. In the first section we analyse some peculiar features involved in CRIS...
Saved in:
| Published in: | Ramon LLull journal of applied ethics 2020-01 (11), p.305-329 |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | eng |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | In this paper we focus on CRISPR-Cas9, a specific technique of genetic engineering. Our hypothesis is to consider it as a peculiar case of Human Enhancement Technology (HET), which we propose to frame within the Agency Approach. In the first section we analyse some peculiar features involved in CRISPR-Cas9 editing procedure and we address them as poiesis, autopoiesis, sympoiesis. We try to understand both the biological and the practical philosophical implication of those concepts. We show how CRISPR-Cas9 is a phenomenon involving a double mechanism: (a) a poietic process, which implies the possibility to intentionally modify genomes, and (b) an autopoietic process, which is an unexpected or not totally predictable restoration or modification within the cell. In the second section we concentrate on the applicability of autopoiesis beyond its biological nature, stressing its theoretical relevance. Firstly, we explore how the distinction examined in the first section between poiesis and autopoiesis could be mirrored in the agency of the actors involved. We then demonstrate how these two agencies may lead to the establishment of a multi-level system. In this system, scientists, but also the scientific community and society at large, have the normative role to conceptualize and regulate the functional autonomy associated to technologies such as CRISPR-Cas9.We thus propose and analyse three guideline values for the regulation of CRISPR-Cas9, that are respectively: safety-oriented design, responsiveness, collective aim. Finally, our aim is to show how and to what extent the CRISPR-Cas9 case requires a new and different criterion beyond those listed in traditional or revisionist approaches to enhancement. We identify the latter in the criterion of the agency (agentivita or agentividact): namely, the actual possibility to act, perform and modify the enhancement in fieri, in the making of it. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2013-8393 |