International Conference on
“Human Genetic and Reproductive Technologies: Comparing Religious and Secular Perspectives”

6-9 February 2006
Cairo, Egypt.

Sessions of the Seminar

The seminar will have four sessions which will discuss the following theme :

1. Humanity and creation/the natural world.
2. Genetics, reproductive technologies and the family.
3. Social impacts of genetic and reproductive technologies.
4. How and where do we draw the lines?

In each cession there will be 4, or at most 5, presentations, one from each tradition (Jewish, Christian, Islamic, secular).

We believe that this seminar is quite innovative and ambitious: structure is our attempt to establish a dialogue that compares underlying concepts in the different traditions, and identifies points of consensus and difference. The structure analysis of questions may not addressed all the issues that you feel on important, but we trust that you will be able to insert these at an appropriate point in the seminar.

Rather than give everyone a free choice of which session they prefer to make a presentation in, we have decided to offer everyone a choice of 2 possible sessions. We would like to ask you to make a presentation in session or.

In order to facilitate comparison between the different traditions, we would like presenters to have access to the presentations of other speakers with in Their session in advance of the seminar, in order to give time to incorporate comments about conceptual similarities and differences. We are therefore asking all participants to provide a text of the presentations to us by 30 October. We will circulate these to the other three presenters in each session.

We will be in touch over the next few weeks with further information regarding logistics etc.

- DR. AHMED REGAI EL-GENDY,
Secretary General Assistant, IOMS.
Kuwait.

Session 1: Humanity and Creation/the Natural World

1. How do different religious traditions view the appropriate relationship between human beings and the rest of creation? To what extent is the creation "given" to us in an inviolate form, and to what extent is the creation open to modification and improvement by humans? Which aspects of the biological creation can be modified and which are to be regarded as inviolate?

2. If we can altar human nature, do human beings have a different status from the rest of nature/creation, and should they be specially protected?

3. What is the ethical status of the human embryo and foetus?

4. What is the meaning of the concept of human dignity within your tradition? Is dignity affected by reproduction becoming subject to technological manipulation, including the selection and design of characteristics?

5. Is there a general attitude towards science and technology within your tradition? Is there a basis for arguing that there are, some areas in which it is better simply not to inquire, if so what might they be? Is there a conservative versus liberal split within your tradition, or do these terms not make sense within your discourse? Is it right to say that there is something inherent in the way science works within western societies that encourages an arrogant and unwise attitude towards creation/nature?

6. Is there a moral difference between the use of genetic technology for restorative therapy (an intervention intended to restore function toward normal/average) and enhancing therapy (an intervention intended either to lead to significantly above average function, or a set of new abilities)?

Session 2: Genetics, Reproductive Technologies and the Family

1. Is technological reproduction leading to a split between sexuality and reproduction and how does this affect the family and children?

2. To what extent do we receive our children as a unique gift, whose nature and character is "given", and to what extent do we have a duty or a right to modify their nature and character? Does choosing our children's characteristics turn them into consumer objects?

3. Is infertility a disease, and is it appropriate for infertile couples to use reproductive technology to bring children into being? What are the limits of the appropriate use of tills technology? To what extent does the use of reproductive- technology change the fundamental relationship between parents and children?

4. Is it appropriate for parents to use genetic tests before birth to choose whether a particular child should be born? Many disabled people's organizations argue that prenatal selection is a form of eugenic discrimination against them, which is based on an assumption that their lives are of lesser value. Is this a valid argument or is it acceptable to use prenatal selection to prevent the birth of children with severe impairments? If selection is allowed, is there a difference in using genetic tests to identify a foetus or embryo that carries a high risk of severe impairment and using tests to select a child who has desired characteristics eg. gender? How do we draw the line between severe and less disabling conditions? Is it appropriate to select children using PGD 10 be tissue donors?

5. Is there a fundamental moral difference between using education and parental discipline to modify and enhance a child's abilities, and using genetic technology to achieve the same ends?

6. What would be the impact of reproductive cloning on the family?

7. Is it appropriate for parents to have their children tested for the presence of genetic disorders which present later in adulthood?

Session 3: Social Impacts of Genetic find Reproductive Technologies

1. What is your tradition's vision of the good society, and the relationship between individuals and society? How does it differ from the western secular liberal vision of a society composed of rational, self interested and autonomous individual, which emphasizes the importance of individual freedom? To what extent of questions of social justice, who benefits and who loses, relevant in your ethical considerations?

2. How are genetic and reproductive technologies affecting the relationship between individuals and society? Is it fair to say that they tend to encourage greater emphasis on individuals' inherent characteristics and competition, and therefore greater Inequality and less social solidarity?

3. If it is true that selection and design of babies undermines human dignity, does that potentially also undermine human rights?

4. Is there a philosophical basis within your Tradition for concerns about social discrimination on the basis of genes, for example in insurance and employment?

5. To what extent can arguments about the appropriate use of limited resources be made within your tradition?

6. Are genetics and reproductive technologies leading to a new form of eugenics in which disabled people and others who have less of the abilities that society values are gradually eliminated from society? If so, what is the argument against this?

Session 4: How and Where Do We Draw the Lines?

This session is intended to look at more concrete issues of specific reproductive and genetic technologies and to compare perspectives on which might be acceptable and which not.

How do we draw the lines?

1. Which of the Issues raised in the previous sessions is most important in, deciding which technologies are acceptable?

2. What weight is given to individual freedom in your tradition? If there is a conflict between ethical judgments and arguments that some decisions are in the private sphere. Can the latter overcome ethical judgments?

3. To what extent are arguments about whether the direction of science is appropriate, for example, whether it fulfils genuine needs or is merely for profit relevant?

4. Can decisions based on 'slippery slope arguments' be valid, or must ethical judgments be based purely on the case in question?

5. Is the relief of suffering the most important consideration, or just one amongst a number of considerations?

Where do we draw the lines?

Which of the following technologies are acceptable in principle, subject to what conditions:

- Embryo research and embryonic stem cell technology prenatal testing and screening

- the implantation genetic diagnosis

- reproductive cloning

- gene therapy/germ line genetic engineering

- IVF