A Companion to the Philosophy of Technology

Cellular, Genetic and Tissue Engineering

These fields involve recent attempts to attack biomedical problems at the microscopic level.

Cellular engineering is a field that attempts to control cell function through chemical, mechanical, electrical or genetic engineering of cells. It attempts to understand disease processes at the cellular level and to intervene by means of miniature devices that stimulate or inhibit cellular processes at target locations to prevent or treat disease.

Genetic engineering specifically aims to control the genetic material in cells. Most research goes into somatic cell therapy, which is the genetic modification of bodily cells other than sperm or egg cells in order to replace defective genes with functional ones. It is being clinically tested to treat inheritable diseases, cancer, diabetes and various neurodegenerative disorders. There is now considerable agreement that somatic cell gene therapy to treat serious diseases is ethical.

Germline engineering, which is not currently used therapeutically but which is being studied, is a more controversial practice in which genes in eggs, sperm or very early embryos are modified. It is controversial because it leads to inheritable modifications of the genome that are passed on to future generations. The long-term side-effects of such engineering are currently unpredictable, and there are also concerns that such engineering violates the rights of future generations or amounts to “playing God.” Also controversial ...