Mexico City, July 5. When inaugurating the blended forum Genetic Edition: Philosophy, Law and Medicine, the president of the Health Commission, deputy Emmanuel Reyes Carmona (Morena), highlighted the importance of having legislation that respects human rights, allows scientific research and supports the people’s health.
He stated that genetic research is used in conditions such as cancer and hereditary diseases; however, the lack of regulation has generated a legal vacuum that allows dubious procedures, which already happened, he said, in Jalisco in 2016 when a team of North American researchers came to the country to carry out a study not authorized in the United States that is known as mitochondrial replacement.
“With this objective we meet here, where various specialists from universities such as Oxford and UNAM analyze this issue to make the best decisions. With the support of all of us, we will make a great legislative project”, he commented.
Reyes Carmona said that Genetic Editing, like any other science, may have limits or generate undesired consequences in some genes. In addition, its possible application in medicine has generated controversy, since there is not enough security in the success of this technique.
Given this, he added, it is essential to share the benefits of this technique, respect the right of people to decide whether to accept it or not; consider human dignity, the limits of treatment and its design, as well as the relevance of using this technique over other treatments, in addition to the impact on individual identity due to genetic changes.
It is also relevant to deal with the controversies about the respect and right to life of the embryos that would be discarded, along with the discrimination of employers or health insurance to participate in research trials in genomic medicine.
Deputy Hamlet García Almaguer (Morena) questioned about patenting gene editing and that if transnational companies are allowed there will be an inequality scheme. Those with more wealth and power would carry better genes than the rest of the population, he considered.
“It is a situation that is even beyond the scope of the powers of this Parliament. Global action is required as with the vaccines against Covid-19, where governments sought to establish a scheme for poor countries to have access, but this failed and the number of deaths in those nations was higher.
The forum addressed the following topics: Genetic Edition from Philosophy, chair taught by Gustavo Ortiz Millán, from the Philosophical Research Institute of the National Autonomous University of Mexico; The Genetic Edition, chair of Patricia Grether González, of the ABC Medical Center.
The chair: Mitochondrial Transfer and Genetic Editing from Bioethics and Biolaw, by César Palacios González, The Oxford Research Center in the Humanities and The Oxford Uehiro Center for Practical Ethics, from the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, and María de Jesús Medina Arellano, from the Institute of Legal Research of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
The topic Genetic Edition and Public Policies, by Raúl Rodríguez Eguíbar, from the Escuela Libre de Derecho de Puebla, was also discussed.