The Ethics of CRISPR: Balancing Scientific Progress with Moral Considerations
In the context of the deep coupling of synthetic biology and gene editing technology, human reproductive genome intervention has broken through the threshold constraints of traditional medical ethics and entered a new stage of fierce competition between technical feasibility and ethical legitimacy. The global laboratory census data published in Nature Biotechnology in 2023 showed that the annual growth rate of experimental projects involving heritable gene modification reached 187%, of which 64% of the research targets were directed at non-disease-related phenotype regulation. This trend of technology application exposed the value orientation shift from basic research to application transformation. Taking the editing of the OCA2 gene (OMIM 611409) as an example, although the P protein encoded by this site has a strong correlation with eye pigment deposition (GWAS P=3.2×10^-28), its functional redundancy assessment has not yet reached a consensus in the academic community. The latest protein interaction network model (STRING v12.0) of the Center for Systems Biology at the University of Cambridge shows that OCA2 has 7 homologous substitution nodes in the melanin synthesis pathway, which fundamentally challenges the ethical defense basis of "gene necessity".