Continue Research on Human Genetic Modification
This post is a part of our Bioethics in the News series
By Jennifer Carter-Johnson, PhD, JD
Scientists have recently announced that they had used the new gene editing technique, CRISPR, to remove remnants of ancient viruses that had integrated into the pig genome. An amazing feat of genetic engineering to be sure—but the article is notable as a first step in "humanizing" pig organs for use in organ transplant by removing pig-specific viruses before they can infect human organ recipients. The idea of humanizing pigs should make us wonder—what does it mean to be human? How much genetic modification can pigs undergo and still be pigs? How do we define humanity for our neighbors and ourselves? How much genetic modification would it take to remove the label of humanity?
These questions are not asked in a vacuum nor is the research being conducted solely for philosophical inquiry. We need organs to save lives. There are over 116,000 people on the organ donor list and only 33,611 organ donations each year. About 20 people die every day in the U.S. waiting for a match so that they can receive a new heart, kidney or lung. Additionally, not everyone who actually receives a transplant has a successful outcome.
Transplant rejection occurs because each person has a fairly unique set of signal markers on their cells that allow the immune system to identify "self." Bacterial or viral infections trigger immune responses in part because they change the infected cell's signal markers from "self" to "foreign." A transplanted organ also looks "foreign" to the recipient's immune system due to the difference in signal markers, and this immune response leads to transplant rejection. For instance, identical twins would have very little risk of transplant rejection, while two unrelated people of different backgrounds would likely be unable to donate to each other. Thus, doctors search for the greatest amount of match between recipient and donor, and then suppress the recipient's immune system to further decrease the risk of transplant rejection.
Using animal organs introduces yet more foreign signals to the organ recipient, leading to the desire to humanize those organs with markers that signal "human" and "self" to the recipient. In fact, doctors have been using pig heart valves in transplants since the 1970s. These hearts valves are extracted and then stripped of live cells to decrease the risk of rejection. This preparation procedure limits types of transplants that can be performed, and even with preparation, rejection issues may eventually arise.
Therefore, today's scientists are working to use genetic engineering to modify pig organs to express the same cell markers that signal "self" to a human recipient. The referenced article described the development of pigs without endogenous retroviruses that some fear could infect recipients. From that basis, scientists could use several different techniques to develop pigs with humanized organs. One technique would be to genetically modify an embryo such that the pig's cells express more "human" markers and less "pig" markers. Another technique that has been pioneered recently would be to inject human cells into a pig embryo such that the resulting chimeric pig would grow a genetically human organ.
Both of these techniques raise the question of what it means to be human. Merriam-Webster defines the noun human as "a bipedal primate mammal (Homo sapiens) : a person." Furthermore, the adjective definition of the word human, "having human form or attributes," broadens that definition in an ambiguous way that leaves us no closer to an answer than before. After all, the point of humanizing cells is to give them human attributes for organ transplantation. Surely, that isn't enough to make the pig a human? Pigs with genomes edited to have organs that look more "human" will likely still act like pigs. But we don't truly know how multiple genetic changes will present. Looking to the chimera technique, would a chimeric pig with the heart and kidneys of a human still be a pig? What if some of those human cells colonized the brain and some percentage of neurons were human? How do we answer the question of humanity? Do we ask what percentage of the body is human? Do we see if the animal still acts like a pig or test its skills on the SAT?
In contrast, does a person who receives a pig heart transplant cease to be human and become a pig? Humans do not have a great track record of recognizing humanity in others. Perhaps in recent times, we in the United States have not had to consider what qualifies as human. A baby born from a human mother is a human. But this concept has not always been so straightforward. Constitutional definition of a slave as 3/5 of a person and the idea of blood quantum to limit Native American rights go back to the beginning of our country. More broadly, Hitler wanted to develop a master race and viewed Jews as subhuman – leading to horrific abuses and mass murder. Today, some countries still view women as property rather than humans with rights.
Genetic technologies will challenge how we view ourselves, our neighbors, and the next generation. Genetic testing has revealed Neanderthal genetic code in many of us due to interbreeding thousands of years ago. CRISPR-based tools will eventually allow parents using artificial reproductive technologies to select genetic traits for their children. How many modifications would it take for a child to cease to be human? Perhaps super strength or gills to breathe under water sound like fantastic science fiction now, but so too did the tablets and communicators of Star Trek in the 1960s and the watch phone/TV from Dick Tracy in the 1940s. Returning to the idea of organ transplants, would a skin bag full of organs derived from a human's cells but with no brain be considered a human? Would your answer differ if there was a brain but no higher order brain function? Such an option could reduce organ rejection to nil if a person's cells could be used to create their own replacement organs.
The dangers of relegating a population to second tier status because they are genetically different from the norm have been explored across fiction from Animal Farm to the X-Men. Humanity's history suggests that those stories are rooted in our inability to see humanity in those we deem as other. Advances in science mean that we need to define what it means to be human in order to avoid abuses equal to slavery or Nuremberg. Our world is changing and so too will humanity – whether or not we are prepared.
Jennifer Carter-Johnson, JD, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Law in the College of Law at Michigan State University. Dr. Carter-Johnson is a member of the Michigan State Bar and the Washington State Bar. She is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
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References
- Michael Daly, How Dick Tracy Invented the Apple Watch, The Daily Beast, https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-dick-tracy-invented-the-apple-watch
- James Gallagher, Human-pig 'chimera embryos' detailed, BBC NEWS, http://www.bbc.com/news/health-38717930
- Gina Kolata, Gene Editing Spurs Hope for Transplanting Pig Organs into Humans, New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/10/health/gene-editing-pigs-organ-transplants.html
- Merriam-Webster Dictionary, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/human#h2
- Star Trek, http://www.startrek.com/database_article/star-trek-the-original-series-synopsis
- S. Constitution, Article I, Section 2, Clause 3, University of Chicago, http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/tocs/a1_2_3.html
- S. Department of Health and Human Services, Organ Donation Statistics, https://www.organdonor.gov/statistics-stories/statistics.html
Source: https://msubioethics.com/2017/10/26/humanity-in-the-age-of-genetic-modification/
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