Part 4 of a 5 part series featuring excerpts from Professor Bartha Knoppers’ lecture “Scientific Breakthroughs: The Prohibition Reflex (From IVF to AI)” for the 2019 Henry G. Friesen International Prize in Health Research.

Prof. Bartha Knoppers is Professor of Medicine, Department of Human Genetics, with appointments in Law and Biomedical Ethics at McGill University and is also Director, Centre of Genomics and Policy at McGill University.
 
Prof. Knoppers is a global leader in the study of legal, social and ethical issues related to biomedical research in human genetics and genomics. She was awarded the 2019 Henry G. Friesen International Prize in Health Research.

In this clip, Prof. Bartha Knoppers examines the ethics and use of gene therapy.

Prof. Knoppers discusses how unique situations can cause unrest in the media, and lead to policy makers putting research back behind bars, what she calls the ‘prohibition reflex’. This connects to CRISPR, a technology that can be used to edit genes. It first came to prominence in 2015, after a Chinese scientist announced the birth of two babies with alternated embryos to be HIV resistant. Since then, ethics statements from over 50 countries have been reported on germ line modification with only 11% allowing clinical applications. Knoppers examines how the issue lies in enforcement, and not a lack of laws or guidelines.

Filmed at the University of Ottawa on September 18, 2019.

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