Dr Lisa Dive1
1University Of Technology Sydney
Genomics is playing an increasingly prominent role many areas of medicine and health care. For example, genomic information can be incorporated into reproductive decision making, some jurisdictions are considering population scale genomic sequencing, and human heritable genome editing is now possible (albeit some way off implementation). Our understanding of the role genes and genomes play in a person’s health, identity and other characteristics is developing rapidly.
How we conceptualise genes, genomes and the meaning of genomic information is highly influential in how we think about acceptable, appropriate and desirable applications of the rapidly advancing technologies in these areas (and others). The Mendelian (classical) understanding of the human genome differs significantly from more complex conceptualisations informed by molecular biology and other developments such as epigenetics.
Yet classical genetic concepts – taking genes to be discrete “units of heredity” – play a significant role in the way we think about genes and assess potential applications of new genomic technologies. There are several problems with this approach. For example, the causal role that genes play in determining a person’s characteristics is not as deterministic as Mendelian genetics assumes. Additionally, classical genetics fails to account for the complexity of gene-environment interactions.
Therefore I argue that we ought to interrogate the metaphysics of genes in order to approach the ethics of genomics in a robust and rigorous way. Doing so is an essential precondition for assessing how we implement, regulate and think about ethical applications of emerging and rapidly developing genomic technologies.
Biography:
Lisa has research qualifications in analytic philosophy and bioethics, and professional experience in health policy. Her research explores how analysis of fundamental ethical concepts can help in responding to real world ethical challenges in health care systems. She has a particular interest in the ethics of human genetics and genomics.