Human germline gene editing from maslahah perspective: The case of the world's first gene edited babies
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-1-2021
Abstract
This paper describes maslahah, a fundamental concept in Islam and its application in deliberating permissibility of human germline gene editing from an Islamic perspective. This paper refers to He Jiankui's research that led to the birth of the world's first gene edited babies, who were edited to be protected from HIV. The objective, procedure, and output of the research were assessed against the conditions of maslahah. It can be concluded that the experiment did not meet the conditions; it is inconsistent with the objectives of shariah (maqasid al-shariah) and some fundamental Islamic teachings that it did not preserve greater benefit, hence it could be considered impermissible.
Keywords
CRISPR-Cas9, Gene editing, Bioethics, Islam
Divisions
ScienceandTechnologyStudies
Funders
Fundamental Research Grant Scheme under Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (FP032-2016)
Publication Title
Journal of Bioethical Inquiry
Volume
18
Issue
2
Publisher
Springer
Publisher Location
ONE NEW YORK PLAZA, SUITE 4600, NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES