POPE OFFICIAL.docx

His holiness, Pope Francis
Apostolic Palace
00120


Dear Pope Francis,


I appreciated your message for the 25th World Day of the Sick on Feb. 11th 2017 in which you stated that the Catholic Church's fundamental mission "includes serving the poor, the infirm the suffering the outcast, and the marginalized." You also expressed "an appreciation for all those in healthcare institutions throughout the world." (Watkin) But, I respectfully ask you to Imagine a world without any hospitals, pharmacies or doctors. While genetic engineering may never achieve this utopia for our human race, it has the potential to mitigate the burden and suffering caused by many genetic diseases. Many diseases are a result of mutations or mistakes located on genes, which are located on DNA strands in the cell nucleus. The CRISPR-Cas9 system is a new technique invented by scientists to genetically alter cells using a guiding RNA protein together with Cas9, a powerful enzyme which cleaves a specific site on DNA. This technique is simpler and less expensive than previous methods, and allows for a precise editing of genetic code. Harmful genes may be deleted, and beneficial genes inserted. While researchers celebrate the CRISPR-Cas9 system as a scientific breakthrough, the Catholic Church has pointed out several ethical concerns, especially in regard to potential use on embryonic cells wherein the changes will be passed down to one's offspring. However, this technique should not be halted over concerns that Crispr-cas9 will alter the natural selection of our species and society, that technical errors could harm progeny, and that potential misuse by the commercial industry or bad actors would be inevitable.
In 1734, Alexander Pope's "An Essay on Man" shares the view of a Universe which functions in, a complex, imperfect way according to the natural laws. Pope states that humans must accept their position in the "Great Chain of Being, "which is somewhere between the beasts and the angels (Pope). In 1859, Charles Darwin would refer to these natural laws as natural selection and the theory of evolution. Darwin states that evolution occurs through a selection for human beings that have the best genes for surviving in their environment. Until recently the Catholic Church did not support the theory of natural selection and Charles Darwin; however Pope Francis declared evolution and The Big Bang Theory as real and that "God is not a magician with a magic wand."(Withnall) Catholics have criticized CRISPR-cas9 because it can be used for genetic enhancement. Genetic enhancement seeks to change the very nature of man to make him "superhuman." In an article in the New York Times called "The Vanishing Republican," David Frum states that "It is probable that the trend to inequality will grow even stronger in the years ahead, if new genetic techniques offer those with sufficient resources the possibility of enhancing the intelligence, health, beauty and strength of children in the womb. "One could envision the disruption of social order in the world when wealthy countries could create societies of genetically enhanced humans. But according to David Frum, you should not reject genetic enhancement. He points out that "in 1983, Pope John Paul II argued that genetic enhancement was permissible — indeed, laudable — even from a Catholic point of view, as long as it met certain basic moral rules. Among those rules: that these therapies be available to all.(Frum) Thus, if this new scientific breakthrough is used fairly and democratically for all humans in the world, everyone can enjoy better minds, bodies and lives.
We can also both agree that while Crispr-cas9 technique is an amazing scientific breakthrough, it has serious technical flaws. Even the Royal Society of Chemists have made it clear that the CRISPR- cas9 technique is imperfect. (Birch) The problem is that the wrong genes can be edited when they have a DNA sequence similar that of the target genes. Scientists worry that perhaps these mistakes will create more diseases and unknown problems. However, Bill Skarnes, a researcher at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge, UK has been focusing on a way to use a computer database to improve the CRISPR accuracy by letting the scientist know how many mismatches are on the genome, and this will hopefully minimize collateral damage. (Birch) But, J. Benjamin Hurlbut expresses concern in The Catholic Bioethics Center on Health CARE and Life Sciences "over notions that human life should (or should not be) subjected to technological control"(Hurlbut). However, our current system of preconception genetic counseling and Vitro fertilization are not imperfect as well, and embryonic gene editing technology offers solutions to their shortcomings. With current technology and screening methods, "it is still difficult to provide women with accurate preconception genetic counseling". Because of this women, cannot know what genetic error they have in their genome and cannot have confidence in their preconception genetic counseling(Fogleman). The practice of methodically developing new technologies and putting them through countless trial runs ensures its safety to the public because incorrect mutations have deleterious effects like death and can lead to the development of new syndromes and diseases. For example, scientists now understand that mitochondrial disease transmission can be prevented by blocking the transmission of mitochondria from parent cells; however, its application to the public is restricted until its safety can be ensured (Fogleman). With this in mind, one must deduce that It is rational to fear scientific development, yet at the same time, it cannot be hindered. With gene editing technology, Oocyte stimulation and abortion could be entirely avoided by correcting defective genes in embryos (Sugarman). Certainly, the catholic church would find that beneficial since the Dignitas Personae states that "cryopreservation of oocytes for the purpose of being used in artificial procreation is to be considered morally unacceptable "as well as abortion since "humans are to be respected and treated as people from the moment of conception."(Levada)
Finally, we can agree that potential misuses of CRISPR-Cas9 by industry striving to profit from those wanting "designer" babies or those bad actors who would create weapons of mass destruction are significant concerns. Some medical elites such as the chairman of Alliance for Regenerative Medicine and president of Sangamo, Edward Lanphier, fear that genetic embryo editing will lead to modification of cosmetic features such as eye color, height, hair color, skin color, and thus don't support gene editing(Cyranoski). Others worry that if cosmetic gene editing is released to the public then eugenics will occur in which the social hierarchy will lean towards those who can afford to give their "designer babies" all of societies sought after traits giving humans night vision, harder bones, higher IQ's, more height(Editing Humanity).The believed effects would coincide with what Karl Marx's theory of societal development in terms of the bourgeoisie exploiting the proletariat (Marx,20-22).These fears are more than rational. This type of technology has the potential to completely change the socioeconomics of the world and humanity forever, so it must be developed meticulously and carefully. The first step is to develop the technology to help prevent genetic diseases through gene editing using CRISPR. Once, this method of germline editing is completed, the method of gene editing would have to be industrialized, and closely regulated making it affordable for everyone so all of society could benefit from the eradication of genetic diseases. From there, consideration could be given to embryonic editing for cosmetic purposes, yet this technology is nowhere near application ,so it is pointless to debate the topic because the exact procedure is currently unknown. Another serious concern is the potential for misuse of this genetic editing technology by foreign governments and terrorists who would design harmful biologic agents. James R. Clapper, former Director of National Intelligence1, listed Genomic Editing along with five other weapons of mass destruction which included North Korea's, China's, and Iran's developing nuclear capabilities, and use of chemical weapons in Syria and Irac. There is great concern for misuse of this technology by foreign countries lacking regulatory and ethical standards. Potential threats include the development of engineered pathogens endangering humans, plants and animals, putting human life and sustenance in peril. Mr. Clapper does acknowledge technical hurdles to developing this level of genetic weaponization. Additionally, these dangers may be mitigated by the strengthening of international law and treaties, notably UN Security Council 15402 which governs the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the DURC policy3 for institutional oversite.
Rather than hindering research, CRISPR-Cas9 should be prioritized as an international priority because of its massive potential to help humanity discard genetic diseases from the genome which outweighs its potential risks has the potential to better treat and prevent diseases than current methods made an international priority. For this reason, research on this technology should not be stopped over fears that Crispr-cas9 will impugn the socioeconomics and natural selection, cause syndromes and diseases through gene editing errors, and fear of the technology being misused for malice. Being the Pope, the world recognizes and respects your authority on your viewpoints and decisions; however sometimes it is necessary to understand that science puts ethics to test and its fundamental principles must be reformed to society's current progress. With the breakthrough of the development of the CRISPR-Cas9 technique of editing somatic cells, the scientific community has been making massive progress towards being able to cleave genetic diseases from the human genome. Scientific progress shouldn't be chastised, rather it should be supported in that it has it is the means for society to advance morally and economically to come together as one.


Sincerely,

Brandon Schmetterer








Work Cited
Birch, Hayley. "CRISPR: The Cutting Edge." Education in Chemistry. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.
Cyranoski, David. "Embryo Editing Divides Scientists: Researchers Disagree over Whether Making Heritable Changes to Genes Crosses an Ethical Line." Web.
"Editing Humanity." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 22 Aug. 2015. Web. 11 Mar. 2017.
Hurlbut, J Benjamin. "The Demands of CRISPR's World- Must We Defer to the Experts?" April 2016 vol 41 number 4 Ethics and Medicis: A commentary of the National Bioethics Center on Health Care and the Life Sciences.
Fogleman, Sarah et al. "CRISPR/Cas9 and Mitochondrial Gene Replacement Therapy: Promising Techniques and Ethical Considerations." American Journal of Stem Cells 5.2 (2016): 39–52. Print.
Frum, David "The Vanishing Republican. The New York Times. Sept 5, 2008.
Levada, William. "Instruction Dignitas Personae on Certain Bioethical Questions, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith." N.p., 8 Sept. 2008. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.
Marx, Karl, Friedrich Engels, and John Edward Toews. The Communist Manifesto : With Related Documents. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999. Print. The Bedford series in history and culture; Bedford series in history and culture.
MO, Otieno. "CRISPR-Cas9 Human Genome Editing: Challenges, Ethical Concerns and Implications." Journal of Clinical Research and Bioethics (2015): n. pag. OMICS International. OMICS International, 26 Dec. 2015. Web. 06 Mar. 2017.
Pope, Alexander (1733). An Essay on Man; In Epistles to a Friend (Epistle II) (1 ed.). London: Printed for J. Wilford. Retrieved 21 May 2015. via Google books
Sugarman,Jeremy. "Ethics and Germline Gene Editing." 2 July 2015. Web.
Watkin, Devin. "Pope Francis Releases Message for 2017 World Day of Sick." Vatican Radio. N.p., 15 Dec. 2016. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.
Withnall, Adam. "Pope Francis Declares Evolution and Big Bang Theory Are Real and God Is Not 'a Magician with a Magic Wand.'" The Independent. N.p., 28 Oct. 2014. Web. 13 Mar. 2017.
1Statement for the Record, World Wide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community, Senate Armed Services Committee, February 2, 2016
Web.
2UN Security Council resolution 1540: U.S. Department of State, UNSCR 1540 Fact Sheet, Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation February 14, 2017
Web
3National Institutes of Health, Office of Science Policy, Biosecurity, Dual Use Research of Concern (DURC)


Are there any points that need more development or need improved organization?
Is my tone appropriate for my audience?
Are there any other ways I could appeal to those who disagree with my stance that I haven't upmost utilized?

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