This course developed by Vardit Ravitsky, PhD, and Ingrid Holm, MD, MPH, explores the science, the ethical debates and the main policy approaches to well-established and emerging genomics technologies. Topics include germline gene editing, direct-to-consumer genetic testing, donor conception, and more.
Mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) is a new technique that enables prospective parents to avoid passing down certain serious medical conditions, called mitochondrial diseases, to their children. This therapy has drawn media attention in recent years, as scientists, ethicists, policymakers, and families discuss its use in humans. Students are given a chance to consider, from a scientific and ethical standpoint, the issues involved in what has been referred to in some popular media as “3-parent babies”, which refers to children who have been born using this technique.