Crispr Technology: A Jewish Legal Perspective

Authors

John D. Loike, Interim Director of Bioethics, School of Health Sciences and Practice, New York Medical College-Associated with Touro University, Valhalla, NY, USA.Follow
Rabbi Tzvi Flaum, Associate Professor, Judaic Studies, Mashgiach Ruchani, Lander College for Women (Touro College), New York, NY, USA.

Author Type(s)

Faculty

Journal Title

Rambam Maimonides Medical Journal

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-27-2022

Department

Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology

Abstract

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) gene editing is an innovative and potentially game-changing biotechnology that can potentially reverse DNA mutations in a tissue-specific manner. In addition, CRISPR is being targeted for xenotransplantation, for increasing human longevity, in animal breeding, and in plant science. However, there are many ethical challenges that emerge from CRISPR technology. This article discusses several positions that relate to these ethical challenges from a Jewish legal perspective. In addition, we present several other applications of CRISPR technology that lack a defined Jewish legal precedent and require rabbinical scholars to address and resolve them in the future.

Recommended Citation

Loike, J. D., & Flaum, R. T. (2022). Crispr Technology: A Jewish Legal Perspective. Rambam Maimonides Medical Journal, 13 (4). https://doi.org/10.5041/RMMJ.10487