Bioethics in Faith and Practice, Volume 1, Number 1

6 Kuruvilla ⦁ A Call to Forward-Thinking Bioethics on a much faster time frame than we have ever observed in nature. If we believe that modification of the human genome should be restricted to therapeutic uses, or even banned altogether, now is the time to frame those arguments. Now is the time for theoreticians and pragmatists to join forces, talk through the issues, and set policies. Regulations and laws need to be passed before embryonic human lives are irreversibly impacted. How does our use of genetic technology impact us as human persons, and as a biological species? The window for discussion of these issues is closing as the technology continues to progress. It is time to speak up, or forever hold our peace. 1 Liang, Puping, Yanwen Xu, Xiya Zhang, Chenhui Ding, Rui Huang, Zhen Zhang, Jie Lv, Xiaowei Xie, Yuxi Chen, Yujing Li, Ying Sun, Yaofu Bai, Zhou Songyang, Wenbin Ma, Canquan Zhou, and Junjiu Huang. "CRISPR/Cas9-mediated Gene Editing in Human Tripronuclear Zygotes." Protein & Cell Protein Cell 6, no. 5 (2015): 363-72. Accessed July 15, 2015. doi : http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13238-015-0153-5 . 2 Ibid. 3 Cyranoski, David, and Sarah Rearden. "Chinese Scientists Genetically Modify Human Embryos." Nature.com . April 22, 2015. Accessed July 15, 2015. 4 Lanphier, Edward, Fyodor Urnov, Sarah Haecker, Michael Werner, and Joanna Smolenski. "Don't Edit the Human Germline." Nature.com . March 12, 2015. Accessed July 15, 2015. 5 Ibid. 6 Cyranoski, David. "Ethics of Embryo Editing Divides Scientists." Nature.com . March 18, 2015. Accessed July 15, 2015.