USING GENE

EDITING ON LAB
ANIMALS:ETHICAL
ISSUES
Arthur Caplan PhD

Two main challenges in using lab animals:

Lab Animals are living and

sentient and thus have interests
When we harm or limit those
interests to benefit humans (not
other animals) the burden is on
humans to explain/justify why.

Our interests trump yours

Common justification is we have more, richer
interests than they do;
They dont have rights as humans do
they are not as smart,
they are not as sentient--they have a poorer,
limited cognitive life.
So, given their limits, we can use them
to improve human life.

Second challenge
Animals are not perfect models for human
disease, so any data we collect will not be
perfectly representative of effects in humans.
Drugs, biologics, and devices still need to be
tested in humans to determine actual
safety/efficacy.

Making Animals Sick

We can use CRISPR to make animals

more like humans, and thus collect data
that is more applicable to humans
CRISPR can be used to give animals
diseases they do not normally get
CRISPR can be used to speed onset,
severity of diseases

Ethical catch 22

the more key human attributes we

give to animals -- greater
intelligence, sensitivity to pain,
diseases that only occur in
humans, suffering the loss of an
offspring -- the more we undermine
the premise that they are less than
human, different from us--which is
the basis for justifying
experimenting on them.

What about reducing lab animal cognitive capacity to study

diseases or top seek to eliminate them?

CRISPR/gene editing could be used to

create primates with autism and other
neurological conditions, which means
creating animals to not only be tested
but also have lower cognitive capacity
than they would otherwise have had.
Gene editing has already been used to
give primates Rett Syndrome

Gene editing may lead to more suffering

These animals will suffer from from the

intentionally bestowed deleterious
conditions and
They may may suffer further due to
experimentation.
There may be many more of them and
may press storage and handling
capacities. Factory farming?
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As CRISPR makes genetic intervention easier, it becomes

easier to make more lab animals for less important reasons.
Lab animals become even more like a commodity,
completely expendable.
Creating a surplus of lab animals with diseases and
disabilities.
We already test completely unnecessary things like
cosmetics on lab animals, causing them pain,
depression, suffering. What is an important human
purposelipstick, hair dye, Botox??

Animals by the dozen

If animals are much easier to make does their

moral standing erode?
Primates

Lessons from dogs/cats

Rodents

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Enhancement in the lab

Some scientists and many regulators are drawing a line at human
enhancement.
However, researchers are already using CRISPR to design animals not
only to examine disease progression or interventions, but to identify
possible enhancements: improved keratin production, increased
intelligence, more muscle mass.

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Building a better mouse is a trap

Testing enhancements in animals is not necessary
science. It may cause unnecessary animal
pain/suffering, and implies acceptance of human
genetic enhancement.

Testing enhancement in animals encourages human

application.
Perhaps for faster race horses, camels that need less
water, smarter comfort animals, animals that produce
less waste that work in urban settings or are urban pets
or stronger donkeys to haul more equipment.
But, some of these are already dubious practices
involving animal cruelty/exploitation. In many nations
animals have no protections/humane movement
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Pet Sounds
Some labs are creating animals for both experimentation and for
commercial pets.

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Boutique pets
Creating animals for commercial pets, when hundreds of thousands
are languishing in shelters, is morally challenging

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Animals for human specs

Companies are making animals, and designing them to consumer
specs.
Deciding what you want for dinner, or what kind of television you
want, is fine. Deciding what kind of living creature you want, whether
pet or human, is that ok?

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COI
There is conflict of interest for labs that produce animals for lab
experiments and for commercial use.

Imagine a factory that bred dogs both for slaughtering to sell their
meat and for selling as pets.

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next
Only the real diseases
Adopt one to get one
IACUC education
Dont duplicate research unnecessarily
Controlling mass production
Minimize pain and suffering
Expand animal protection for countries where gene editing is
being done

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