Vardit RAVITSKY (Canada)
Vardit Ravitsky is Associate Professor at the Bioethics Program, School of Public Health, University of Montreal and Director of Ethics and Health at the Center for Research on Ethics. Ravitsky is Vice-President of the International Association of Bioethics, member of the Standing Committee on Ethics of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and of the Institute Advisory Board of CIHR’s Institute of Genetics. She is also member of the National Human Genome Research Institute’s (NHGRI) Genomics & Society Working Group. Previously, she was faculty at the Department of Medical Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania.
Ravitsky's research focuses on the ethics of genomics and reproduction and covers a variety of topics such as: public funding of In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF); the use of surplus frozen embryos; posthumous reproduction; pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD); gamete donation; epigenetics; prenatal testing, in particular the ethical, social and legal aspects of Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT); germline and somatic gene editing; and mitochondrial replacement. She published over 120 articles and commentaries on bioethical issues. She holds a BA from the Sorbonne University in Paris, an MA from the University of New Mexico in the US, and a PhD from Bar-Ilan University in Israel.
Abstract
From IVF to Germline Gene Editing: Ethical Challenges
Since the birth of the first IVF baby in 1978, assisted reproductive technologies have been raising complex ethical and legal challenges. This talk will explore 40 years of bioethical debate surrounding these technologies, following the gradual emergence of novel techniques and alternatives for family building, and the associated concerns they raised.
The talk will describe the repeated pattern whereby the introduction of a new possibility causes great concern and creates a heated debate, followed by a gradual adoption of its use, and eventually increased acceptability. This has been the case regarding techniques such as IVF or PGD. The talk will also highlight certain areas in which the ethical and the legal debate has not been resolved to date, despite the ongoing use of the technique. This is the case regarding options such as gamete donation (e.g. the ongoing debate regarding the right of donor-conceived individuals to know their genetic origins) or surrogacy (e.g. the ongoing debate regarding payment to surrogates and the legal determination of maternity).
Finally, the talk will explore novel emerging techniques and the current heated debate surrounding them, in particular mitochondrial transfer and human germline gene editing. These techniques introduce new levels of concern, as they involve heritable genetic modifications. The talk will trace current ethical and policy debates in this area and show how the initial ban proposed by most advisory bodies world-wide is recently giving way to greater openness and acceptability.