Dr Oliver Feeney is a researcher in political theory and bioethics with the Centre of Bioethical Research and Analysis, NUI Galway. His primary research is on the ethical, legal and social (justice) implications (ELSI) of biomedical technologies, esp. CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing and the ethics of human enhancement. His research also examines the role of egalitarian ethos in non-ideal theory, forms of participatory involvement in science and medicine, the ELSI of electronic health records and examining the role of patents/ intellectual property rights in the context of new technologies and their scope for regulatory control.
Dr Feeney gained his PhD in political theory and bioethics from the School of Political Science & Sociology, NUI Galway and the thesis (on genetics and justice) received the Political Studies Association of Ireland (PSAI) 2009 Basil Chubb Prize (details here). He has been a lecturer at the University of London; Università di Bologna, Italy; Ghent University, Belgium; Dublin City University and NUI Galway.
In the COST Action IS1303 (focussed on ELSI issues in genetic testing and research in Europe), he served as Co-Chair to the Working Group on ‘Science and Values’. He is currently Head of Ireland’s Unit (UNESCO Bioethics Ireland) of the International Network of the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics, Vice-Chair of UNESCO Chair in Bioethics International Research Group ‘Bioethics and human rights, forced displacement in conflict scenarios’ and Vice-Chair for Research for the European Division of the UNESCO Chair. He is also member and secretary of the Royal Irish Academy’s Life & Medical Sciences Committee. He has published numerous articles on ethics and political theory in the context of new genetic technologies and is currently working on a book on the normative implications of human genome-editing technologies.
‘From the Human Genome Project to CRISPR-Cas9: a reassessment of the ethical, legal and societal issues’, June 2019.
The revolutionary potential of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technique has created a resurgence in enthusiasm and concern in genetic research not seen since the days of the Human Genome Project. Some concerns are very well known, such as playing god and interfering with human nature, creating designer children as well as creating a superior class of enhanced post-humans in a society of genetic haves and have nots. The news of the gene-edited Chinese twins in 2018 has made some suggest that these concerns of ethics and social justice are quickly moving from the realm of science fiction to the realm of emerging scientific fact. The talk will argue that there are indeed legitimate ethical, legal and social justice concerns that we should take seriously, but these are not the same as the aforementioned well-known concerns. In this talk, I will outline that there has been an over-reliance on misleading genetic essentialist assumptions that have generated much groundless speculation and unnecessary apprehension. The talk will distinguish concerns that are legitimate from those that are not, and will highlight how potential benefits of new genetic technologies, including enhancements, can be better assessed as a consequence.