Should We Edit the Genetic Essence of Life?
        
            By Margaret Somerville, 
                The Globe and Mail
             | 06. 08. 2015
        
                    
                                    
                    
                                                                                                                                    
                                                                            
                              
    
  
  
    
  
          
  
      
    
             
  Untitled Document 
  
The   human germline is the genetic essence of human life. It’s the genes   passed on from generation to generation that have evolved over billions   of years since the advent of life on Earth which have resulted in each   of us. We can now alter an embryo’s germline genes and all descendants   of that embryo will inherit those alterations. Is that ethical?
  
    
    
    
The human germline’s been described as   “the common heritage of humankind that must be held in trust for future   generations.” Until very recently there was widespread agreement that   intentional interference with it was unethical and should not be   allowed. The UNESCO Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human   Rights (1997) characterized germline interventions as “practices that   could be contrary to human dignity;” the Council of Europe’s European   Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (Oviedo Convention, 1997)   bans interventions on the human genome that could be inherited, that is,   on the human germline; the Canadian Assisted Human Reproduction Act   2004 prohibits “alter[ing] the genome of a cell of a human being or   in-vitro embryo such that the...
 
 
  
 
    
    
  
   
                        
                                                                                
                 
                                                    
                            
                                  
    
  
  
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