by Jeff Bendix

Once considered the stuff of science fiction, medical science may eventually have the ability to alter the genetic makeup of human egg and sperm cells and embryos, thus changing the attributes of a child about to be born, as well as the child's own future offspring.

The implications to society of allowing so-called germline genetic engineering will be the topic of a debate, featuring some of the nation's top ethical and biomedical scholars, at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law. The debate will take place 4:30-6 p.m. October 8 in Room A59 of the law school.

The debate, sponsored by the school's Law-Medicine Center, is part of the yearlong 50th anniversary celebration of the center, the oldest in the country combining the study of law and medicine.

Speaking in favor of allowing germline genetic engineering will be Ronald M. Green, the Eunice and Julian Cohen Professor for the Study of Ethics and Human Values and director of the Ethics Institute at Dartmouth College; and John A. Robertson, the Vinson & Elkins Professor at the University of Texas School of Law at Austin.

Opponents will be George J. Annas, the Edward R. Utley Professor and chair of the Department of Health Law, Bioethics and Human Rights at the Boston University School of Public Health and professor in the Boston University School of Medicine and School of Law; and Brent Blackwelder, president of Friends of the Earth.

For details, call 368-3304.

Return to the online edition of the 9-25-03 Campus News.

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