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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Ilke TurkmendagORCiD
This is the authors' accepted manuscript of an article that has been published in its final definitive form by Sage Publications Inc., 2018.
For re-use rights please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions.
The paper addresses the child’s right-to-know their genetic origins in mitochondrial donation. It focuses on the UK’s public debate on mitochondrial replacement techniques and examines the claims-making activities that shaped the donor information regulations. During the public consultation, downplaying the significance of the mitochondria helped distinguish mitochondria donors from gamete donors and determine their relational status with the resulting child. As a result, according to the Mitochondrial Donation regulations, mitochondria donors, unlike gamete donors, will not be required to be identifiable to the resulting child. I argue that, in the UK, similar to donor conception, public understanding of mitochondrial donation is shaped by a ‘calculus of genes’: simplified accounts of how genes determine the resulting child’s characteristics and identity. While the donor conception regulations ascribe social meaning to the passage of genes, the mitochondria regulations strip the social meaning away from the donation based on the assumption that the genetic contribution made by the donor is quantitatively insignificant in influencing the identity of the resultant offspring. The nature of the genetic material itself should not be considered as a privileged standpoint from which to decide on social meaning of the donation, or the rights attached to it.
Author(s): Turkmendag I
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Science, Technology and Human Values
Year: 2018
Volume: 43
Issue: 1
Pages: 56-85
Print publication date: 01/01/2018
Online publication date: 31/07/2017
Acceptance date: 03/07/2017
Date deposited: 04/07/2017
ISSN (print): 0162-2439
ISSN (electronic): 1552-8251
Publisher: Sage Publications Inc.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/0162243917722843
DOI: 10.1177/0162243917722843
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