with Dr. John H. Evans
Thursday, April 30, 2020
2:00 – 3:30 PM
Note: This talk will take place via Zoom.
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Abstract: A year and a half ago a scientist in China announced that he had facilitated the creation of two genetically modified girls. If true, this would be the first instance of both germline human gene editing and the first germline genetic enhancement – two ethical lines that had previously been critical in the American ethical debates about gene editing. While American scientists and bioethicists were critical of this experiment because safety and other protocols were not followed, they were mostly not opposed to his moving beyond the germline. Using empirical slippery slope theory, I explain how an ethical consensus in the 1970s to not engage in germline modification broke down. Through a sociological examination of the argumentative structure in this public bioethical debate I also provide predictions for the viability of future barriers on the slippery slope.
Speaker Bio: John H. Evans is the Tata Chancellor’s Chair of Social Science, Co-director of the Institute for Practical Ethics and Associate Dean of Social Sciences at the University of California, San Diego. His career has focused on the sociological examination of ethical debates surrounding human biology, particularly debates about human genetic modification He was a member of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine Committee on Human Gene Editing.
