Discussion Board 

Discussion Board 

 

Discussion Board

Gene editing is one of the news story within the last two years concerning genetic and genomic technology. A news article by the U.S toady published on February 16, 2022 asserts that gene editing in ticks offers an array of hope for scientists to tackle and prevent diseases. The article says that successful gene editing promises new ways on how scientists and health experts deal with tick-borne diseases in humans. At the core of this article is the issue of gene editing that has generated ethical, legal, cultural, religious, fiscal and societal implications. Gene editing (genome editing is a technology that gives scientists the ability to alter or change an organism’s DNA structure. Through the technique, scientist can add, remove or alter certain locations in the genome. One core approach of genome editing is the CRISPR-Cas9 which is an abbreviated version for short clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Plumer et al., 2018). This technique has elicited mixed reactions due to several issues like safety, ethical perspective and cultural and religious positions. The technique is faster, more accurate, cost-effective, and efficient than other approaches to genome editing.

Gene editing raises ethical and cultural as well as religious concerns with many asserting that alteration of human DNA presents a chance for scientists to change the human species. Through engineering mutations into human embryos, science could be rewriting the gene pool of future generations by changing the human germ line. Religious concerns arise due to the need to change man from God’s original creation (Martin et al., 2020). Safety and ethical aspects of gene editing present challenges because individuals may illegally obtain genomes and genetic makeup of people and alter them for their selfish interests.

Gene editing allows scientists to develop interventions to fight chronic conditions like cancer, have better and accurate diagnoses and targeted treatments and prevention of genetic disorders (Kim, 2022). However, ethical issues about its safety and legality as well as cultural and religious concerns focusing on the alteration of human beings are serious implications that may derail its full adoption.

Issues Undermining the Right to Genetic and Genomic-related Decisions

The right for patients to make decision in genetic and genomic-related matters and take effective action is hindered by several issues. Key among them is informed consent and safety of the techniques. Informed consent is a core ethical and legal issue where clients must have sufficient information before making a decision on whether to accept or decline any medical procedure or process. Informed consent means that one has voluntarily accepted to have their genes or genomes altered for purposes of providing treatment interventions for their health conditions. However, when health and medical experts fail to offer sufficient information to demonstrate to the client the benefits, interests, and potential harm that may arise from a medical procedure, the ability to make decisions is impacted negatively (United Nations, 2021). The second issue is about safety of genetic and genomic-related interventions. While studies show that gene editing can improve health and allow better and accurate diagnosis, safety concerns has persisted with some questioning the validity, transparency and overall integrity and honesty of practitioners who may prescribe such interventions. The implication is that gene editing presents better opportunities to deal with chronic conditions like cancer.

Stakeholders, especially those in healthcare like nurses, should explain the inherent benefits and possible side effects or negative aspects for better decision-making (WHO, 2021). As patient advocate, the nurse has a role to inform and offer the best advice to the patient about the benefits inherent to the technology and possible negative effects. The nurse should be open and honest about the benefits while also ensure that a patient makes informed choice by offering sufficient information.

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References

Kim, M. (2022 February 5). With CRISPR gene editing, unique treatments begin to take off for

            rare diseases. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/02/05/crispr-rare-diseases/

Martin, P., Morrison, M., Turkmendag, I., Nerlich, B., McMahon, A., de Saille, S., & Bartlett, A.

(2020). Genome editing: the dynamics of continuity, convergence, and change in the engineering of life. New Genetics and Society, 39(2), 219-242. https://doi.org/10.1080/14636778.2020.1730166

Plumer, B., Barclay, E., Belluz, J. & Irfan, U. (2018). A simple guide to CRISPR, one of the

biggest science stories of the decade. https://www.vox.com/2018/7/23/17594864/crispr-cas9-gene-editing

United Nations (2021 July 12). UN reports ‘leap forward’ in regulating DNA-altering

            technology to benefit all. https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/07/1095682

U.S. News (2022 February 16). Gene Editing on Ticks Promises Insights into Disease

Prevention. https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2022-02-16/gene-editing-on-ticks-promises-insights-into-disease-prevention

World Health Organization (WHO) (2021). WHO issues new recommendations on human

genome editing for the advancement of public health.https://www.who.int/news/item/12-07-2021-who-issues-new-recommendations-on-human-genome-editing-for-the-advancement-of-public-health

 

Choose a news story, published within last 2 years, about genetic or genomic technology. What is the issue presented? From the perspective of an RN or APRN, what are the ethical, cultural, religious, legal, fiscal, and societal implications of the issue? Explain. Support your rationale with a minimum of two scholarly sources.
In a separate paragraph, there are several issues that undermine clients’ rights to make genetic and genomic-related decisions and then take action. Identify two issues that you have seen undermine these rights in your clinical setting. What are potential solutions for each? What is your role as the patient advocate with each issue? Explain. Support your rationale with a minimum of two scholarly sources.