From 2026-2028, I will undertake a new piece of work on the reproductive geographies of CRISPR, a gene-editing technology.
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CRISPR for embryo editing is a technology in the making. It has been used amid much controversy and although it is not yet commercially available, there is evidence that some providers are eager to introduce it (and billions of pounds of venture capital investment suggests that markets are betting on its imminent profitability). Currently, most European countries have banned or restricted CRISPR for genome editing in human embryos, but it remains ambiguously regulated elsewhere.
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I hypothesize that CRISPR genome editing on embryos will shortly become a reproductive service available in some countries while banned in others, which will generate a cross-border economy in medical travel to access it. My research aims to advance the growing field of geographies of assisted reproduction by mapping the reproductive geography of CRISPR embryo editing. It doesn't seek to intervene in the intense ongoing bioethical debates about CRISPR. Rather, it starts from the idea that people across the world have different views about the ethical nature of reproductive technologies and they regulate them on that basis. This patchwork of regulation creates an uneven geography of reproductive services and creates widespread cross-border travel for reproductive services (among the wealthy). With growing demand for embryo editing, it follows that particular places will develop themselves as hubs for reproductive medicine that cater to these groups.
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What are the political, ethical, and health implications of CRISPR as a reproductive technology and the associated reproductive geographies that it will produce?