Professors ponder genetic engineering

Within the next few decades, it may be possible for parents to select children's eye-color or genetically engineer them to be more intelligent.

At a panel discussion last night, University professors — including Peter Singer, the Ira DeCamp Professor of Bioethics — addressed such complicated issues, which arise from the upcoming completion of the Human Genome Project.

Scientists announced the completion of a rough draft of the project this summer, having mapped 95 percent of the gene sequence.

The objective of the panel — titled "Sequencing the Human Genome: What's Next?" — was to examine the scientific and ethical implications of the project. The speakers discussed issues ranging from who will have access to an individual's genetic information and how this information might be used clinically for diagnosis and treatment of illness.

None of the panelists expressed concern over the possibility for abuse of genetic information in the next few years, though they agreed decisions will need to be made in the future regarding these issues.

Molecular biology professor Shirley Tilghman, who has served on the National Advisory Committee on the Human Genome, said though there is the potential for scientists to understand the function of many human genes, right now the HGP is providing a framework within which to ask further questions.

Tilghman also said that scientists are not yet sure exactly how the genes control traits such as intelligence, raising questions about the feasibility of genetic engineering.

Singer looked further ahead, addressing the implications of such genetic engineering once it is possible. He said genetic selection is already being practiced in the United States in various forms, pointing to the frequency of advertisements in which parents offer to pay top dollar to an egg donor with a certain SAT score and a certain height.

He added that parents also are using prenatal diagnosis to determine if their child will have diseases, and if so, they are given the option to terminate the pregnancy.

The individual genetic information that the HGP could provide would likely facilitate more sophisticated manipulations, Singer said. The formation of what he termed a "genetic supermarket" could lead to the division of society into the "genetic haves and the genetic have-nots."

Wealthy parents would be able to purchase genetic advantages for their children that would not be available to less fortunate people. Singer acknowledged, however, that the United States could not effectively prohibit genetic modification without the cooperation of other global powers. The other option would be to have what he calls "a genetic welfare state," in which the government would assist those who could not afford gene therapy to ensure equal opportunity.

Molecular biology professor Daniel Notterman focused less on ethical issues and more on questions of clinical medicine, in particular the way that the HGP might affect diagnosis and treatment of disease. Though the HGP has the potential to determine the risk healthy people have of contracting common diseases, Notterman said this possibility may not turn out to be as promising as it seems.

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The risk of disease depends on the interaction of the gene in question with several other genes and also with environmental factors, Notterman explained. The most beneficial use of genetic testing would be in cases where there is already clinical suspicion or hereditary risk of a certain disease, he said.