Genetic Engineering and Human Reproduction
Genome editing is a technique used by genetic engineering in gene manipulation. It can be applied to plants, insects, animals, and humans. Genome editing consists of a series of laboratory techniques to modify the DNA of living organisms. Most techniques use enzymes that cut pre-defined areas of the genome, which are then reestablished through the insertion, replacement, or removal of DNA segments.
Gene editing is specific and targets the exact gene or gene sequence desired to change. However, more experiments, research, computer models, and analyses of the risks and benefits of such genetic interventions must still be carried out before they become a standardized procedure and are permitted by control bodies so that procedures can be carried out with humans.
Regarding genetic engineering, let’s look at the Genome Project: When we think about what differentiates one human being from another, 1% of the DNA is responsible for the variations, and the Genome Project’s scope is to identify precisely these variants of the genetic code and their consequences—vulnerability and propensity to diseases, anomalies, disabilities, etc.
PRODUCTIVE RESPONSIBILITY
Reproductive rights have always been recognized, and restrictions only regarding age have been placed on them. However, given the advancement of genetic technology and its availability to society, some rights have been reformulated. These formulations implied the so-called “Reproductive Responsibility,” which is the responsibility of parents and the State to provide the health conditions of their descendants. Based on this responsibility, some countries have created laws and procedures to control the birth of imperfect genes, which have caused great discussion. In Cyprus, for example, genetic testing is mandatory in premarital examinations for thalassemia. In China, all couples must obtain a pre-marital certificate, which will consist of taking tests on serious genetic diseases, infectious diseases, and serious mental illnesses. This imposition has generated global debates, depriving the couple of their fundamental right to reproduction. When a family is denied the right to have offspring due to the risk of imperfection, whether through sterilization or abortion, it suffers great aggression. When your freedom of choice is compromised by a procedure determined by third parties – even if it is the State in the name of probable health—and as a result, your fundamental right to reproduction is violated, it violates the basic rights of human dignity.
Assisted reproduction techniques allowed couples who dreamed of having children but did not do so for fear of having them with diseases or malformations – identified through pre-conception or pre-implantation diagnosis – to choose the gametes or zygotes, eliminating or reducing the risk of problems of genetic origin. Such techniques do not allow the choice of the baby’s sex unless the family has genetic problems that usually develop in a certain sex. That is, the choice of sex is only allowed to prevent pathologies.
