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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Ilke TurkmendagORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).
Two major reports in the UK and USA have recently sanctioned as ethically acceptable genome editing of future generations for the treatment of serious rare inherited conditions. This marks an important turning point in the application of recombinant DNA techniques to humans. The central question this paper addresses is how did it became possible for human genetic engineering (HGE) of future generations to move from an illegitimate idea associated with eugenics in the 1980s to a concrete proposal sanctioned by scientists and bioethicists in 2020? The paper uses the concept of a regime of normativity to understand the co-evolution and mutual shaping of technology, imaginaries, norms and governance processes in debates about HGE in the USA and UK. It will be argued that interlinked discursive, institutional, political and technological changes have made proposals for the use of genome editing in the genetic engineering of future generations both ‘thinkable’ and legitimate.
Author(s): Martin P, Turkmendag I
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: New Genetics and Society
Year: 2021
Volume: 40
Issue: 4
Pages: 384-405
Online publication date: 02/07/2021
Acceptance date: 15/04/2021
Date deposited: 19/05/2021
ISSN (print): 1463-6778
ISSN (electronic): 1469-9915
Publisher: Routledge
URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/14699915.2021.1932451
DOI: 10.1080/14699915.2021.1932451
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