On Nov. 1, the McGill Journal of Law and Health hosted a speaker series with the goal to explore the ethical and legal ramifications of stem cell research. Michel Tremblay, a professor in the Department of Biochemistry at McGill, was the first speaker. Tremblay began by giving the audience a brief history of stem cell… Keep Reading
A powerful gene-editing tool, known as CRISPR, has been developing, promising new approaches to treating various illnesses and even modification of children by their parents. Yet, it seems society still hasn’t addressed fears about the possible misuse of such technology—technology that research labs around the world have already started using. CRISPR functions by altering damaging sequences… Keep Reading
CRISPR offers the potential to cure presently untreatable cancers and diseases. Moreover, it could revive an extinct organism, such as the mammoth, using tiny bits of genomic information that scientists have collected through their serendipitous discoveries. “CRISPR is a gene editing technique that allows investigators to alter the gene sequence of an organism using a… Keep Reading
What if we could rid the world of any species that we didn’t like: The annoying ones, the dangerous ones, and the disease-spreading ones? This seems like a tall order and one that carries a number of ethical quandaries. With the advent of CRISPR/Cas9 gene technologies, the once theoretical bioethics is now a real consideration… Keep Reading
In April of 2015, researchers in China from Sun Yat-sen University published the results of the world’s first experiment on human embryo editing. The goal of the experiment was to edit a gene containing mutations for a blood disorder called β-thalassemia. The gene is responsible for coding a subunit of the hemoglobin molecule, which carries… Keep Reading
