Ethical Issues Surrounding Egg Donation in Genome Editing Research
NCER Comments
Are women who receive payment to donate their eggs able to fully understand the health risks (possibly cancer or death) entailed so as to give informed consent? Additionally, does this practice violate the ethical principle of Justice by taking advantage of vulnerable poor women? NCER believes this policy is unethical because it debases women and treats their eggs/DNA as commodities.
by Patrick Foong | 11 Jan 2020
Like any novel technology, there are …
For a Change of Heart, Would-be Egg Donors Face Threats and Bills
NCER Comments
There is very little legal oversight in the marketplace of selling human eggs, and women who initially agree to donate but then change their minds are often harassed and threatened by fertility clinics. Julie Johnson was one such case, and she changed her mind about donating her eggs when she realized the clinic was not concerned for her well-being, but only interested in exploiting her. Read her story below, along with other women …
Principles of Biomedical Ethics: Marking Its Fortieth Anniversary
NCER Notes:
Forty years ago, Bioethics was born out of the collaboration between Beauchamp and Childress, two ethicists with very different moral approaches- one based on obligation and duty, the other on the goodness of outcomes. They were able to merge the best elements of prominent philosophical theories on morality to create a new approach called Principlism. This new approach was widely accepted in the medical community due to its ease of practical application in …
The newest gene editor radically improves on CRISPR
NCER Notes:
Research has shown that the CRISPR gene editing tool (which cuts out and replaces diseased DNA) holds great potential for healing disease, but currently poses a significant risk to humans due to frequent unintended mistakes, or “off-target” mutations in DNA. A solution is being pursued, but in the meantime, a new kind of gene editing, called “Prime Editing” has just been announced this week. Prime Editing uses much of CRISPR technology, but appears …
Omaha World Herald Op-Ed Feature
NCER had the opportunity to comment in the Midlands section of the OWH concerning the ethics of IVF which was used in a complex and unusual birth last month at UNMC.
Midlands Voices: Complex births raise profound bioethical challenges
The Omaha World-Herald recently featured the birth of a precious baby girl, Uma. This birth was the result of a unique, complex effort by family members, each of whom was …