Developed in the past two decades, the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-associated protein 9 (CRISPR-Cas9) technique offers greater accessibility and efficiency in editing genes. Its immediate success has transformed medical research and treatment in productive ways, but has also left questions about ethical consequences in its wake. These are questions familiar to bioethical inquiry. How do we balance short-term and long-term benefits and risks? How do we promote just and equitable access to new medical interventions? How do we protect respect for individual autonomy? These questions require a balance between protecting individuals' liberties and the good of the communities in which they live. In this essay, I am interested in how the principle of respect for autonomy can be interpreted in light of CRISPR-Cas9. I argue that a relational autonomy framework forges a middle ground between the need to respect individual freedom to pursue genetic treatments and the need to acknowledge the networks of dependence that define our moral worlds. I identify three thematic areas that relational autonomy brings into greater focus: the importance of trust, the acknowledgment of vulnerability/dependence, and the promotion of justice. Autonomy understood relationally allows us to see individual freedom as tethered to communal well-being.

中文翻译：

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基因组编辑和关系自治

在过去二十年开发的成簇规则间隔短回文重复序列相关蛋白 9 (CRISPR-Cas9) 技术在编辑基因方面提供了更高的可访问性和效率。它的立竿见影的成功以富有成效的方式改变了医学研究和治疗，但也留下了关于伦理后果的问题。这些是生物伦理学调查所熟悉的问题。我们如何平衡短期和长期的利益和风险？我们如何促进公正公平地获得新的医疗干预措施？我们如何保护对个人自主权的尊重？这些问题需要在保护个人自由和他们所居住的社区的利益之间取得平衡。在本文中，我感兴趣的是如何根据 CRISPR-Cas9 解释尊重自主权的原则。我认为，关系自治框架在尊重个人追求基因治疗自由的需要和承认定义我们道德世界的依赖网络的需要之间建立了一个中间立场。我确定了关系自治使人们更加关注的三个主题领域：信任的重要性、承认脆弱性/依赖性以及促进正义。从关系上理解自治使我们能够看到个人自由与公共福祉息息相关。承认脆弱性/依赖性，促进正义。从关系上理解自治使我们能够看到个人自由与公共福祉息息相关。承认脆弱性/依赖性，促进正义。从关系上理解自治使我们能够看到个人自由与公共福祉息息相关。