I think about a parent facing the heartbreak of watching their child suffer from a preventable genetic disease, and the idea that we might have the tool to spare the next generation that pain but choose not to use it feels like a kind of quiet cruelty.
The 2018 He Jiankui case, where a scientist secretly edited twin embryos' genes in China, led to his imprisonment and near-universal condemnation from the global scientific community specifically because unintended off-target genetic effects remain scientifically unresolved, and any edit made to an embryo passes to all future generations without their consent.
Should India connect its rivers with canals, to move water from flood-prone areas to drought areas?
Is caste-based reservation system still necessary in modern India?
