Promissory Ethical Regimes: Publics and Public Goods in Genome Editing for Human Health

Matthias Wienroth*, Jackie Leach Scully

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)
66 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This paper analyses promissory discourse for genome editing and human health in the UK, attending to the articulation of public goods and their beneficiary publics. Focusing on promissory reasoning about an emerging technology field as anticipatory and ethical considerations as integral to such debates, the notion of ethical regime as a mode of governance is applied to the concept of promissory regime. By analyzing key documents and interviews with opinion leaders—thus focusing on the discursive dimension—an enabling promissory ethical regime for genome editing and its contestation are identified. This regime posits scientific knowledge production now, and improved treatment or prevention of hereditary diseases later, as key goods of genome editing for human health and as a sociotechnical project worthy of support. Specific publics are created as beneficiaries. These publics and goods play out as ethical rationales for the promissory governance of the emerging field of human genome editing.
Original languageEnglish
Article numberscab052
Pages (from-to)788-798
Number of pages11
JournalScience and Public Policy
Volume48
Issue number6
Early online date3 Aug 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2021

Keywords

  • ethical regime
  • genome editing
  • governance
  • promissory discourse
  • public good
  • publics

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