Events

CHAIRPERSON

Dr Connor Graham, Asia Research Institute, and Tembusu College, National University of Singapore

ABSTRACT

In the spring of 2015, Dr Junjiu Huang and his research team at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China, used CRISPR-Cas9 in a study to edit the genome of non-viable human embryos. CRISPR-Cas9 is a genome editing tool which may be applied to a wide variety of organisms. If applied to the genome of human germline cells to produce viable human embryos, this tool presents – at least in theory – the capability to alter humanity as we understand it. The publication of Dr Junjiu Huang’s study has since generated torrents of controversy over a range of issues. As with similar debates in the past, one recurring theme suggests that responsible conduct leads to loss of competitive advantage when the same rules do not apply to everyone. More precisely, some consider countries in the “West” to be losing out to their (primarily Asian) competitors because they are constrained by strict ethical and regulatory rules. By implication, the research culture in “non-Western” countries is portrayed as a free for all. From the standpoint of bioethics, I consider the nature of competition in science and how this has in turn shaped scientific research and technological innovation.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Calvin WL Ho is Assistant Professor at the Centre for Biomedical Ethics, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, and Co-Head of the World Health Organization Collaborator Centre on Bioethics in Singapore. He is also Assistant Director of Legal Aid Bureau, a member of the Singapore Nursing Board, co-Head of the Accountability Policy Task Team of the Global Alliance for Genomics & Health, and an Ethics Board Member of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders). His research areas are global health law and ethics, research ethics and policy, health policy and governance.

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