gene editing

I can hardly believe I’ve been doing this podcast for more than 2 years and never had Hank Greely on before. Hank Greely is the Deane F. and Kate Edelman Johnson Professor of Law at Stanford University, and Director of the Center for Law and the Biosciences. When you want an opinion on anything at the intersection of law, policy, and bioethics, Hank is where you go. And I want an opinion on everything at the intersection of law, policy, and bioethics. Luckily, Hank’s new book, CRISPR People, brings him on the podcast today.

Prenatal testing was a normal part of life for UCSF cardiologist Ethan Weiss and his wife when they were expecting their second child, something you did without a second thought. But thirteen years after the birth of Ruthie Weiss, Ethan has plenty of second thoughts about assumptions people make – assumptions he would have made – about the relative burdens and benefits of a life with a different set of challenges. Would Ruthie’s life be better with her albinism? Would their life as a family be better? Would society be better off without Ruthies? Definitely not, says Ruthie’s dad. Not an argument against prenatal testing – but Ethan’s story presents a very salient case for the importance of not testing “without a second thought.”