Session 1: Blurred Boundaries: Ethics and Identity in the Age of Gene Editing, Biohacking and AI
This conference session aims to delve into the intricate ethical, social, and scientific dimensions of gene editing in a morally complex world. As gene editing technologies continue to advance, it becomes increasingly important to understand how these technologies can be used for both healing and enhancing human traits, and what ethical challenges arise from their application. This session will bring together experts in genetics, bioethics, public policy, and social sciences to discuss the impact of gene editing on individuals and society, explore strategies for ensuring ethical practice and equitable access, and highlight the potential for responsible governance in a world of blurred moral boundaries. In this session, important questions to be discussed are:
Moderator:
Ms Thitikan Pohpoach
Dermatologist, Clinical Educator , Miss Wellness World 2025
Speakers:
Main idea:
Rapid generational advancements in genome editing—accelerated by generative AI tools—offer life-changing therapeutic opportunities but necessitate strict, adaptive governance frameworks to navigate long-term safety, access inequalities, and consent boundaries.
Important points:
Important points:
- Evolution of Genome Editing Technology:
The scientific field has transitioned from simply cutting DNA to rewriting it with high precision. This progression spans from foundational CRISPR to base editing, prime editing, and emerging generative AI-assisted tools capable of large-scale genomic modifications. - Somatic versus Germline Editing Dilemmas:
Post-birth somatic editing offers immediate, life-saving cures for serious illnesses but raises long-term safety and cost barriers. In contrast, pre-birth germline editing alters future generations who cannot give consent, triggering severe controversy regarding the engineered control of human properties. - The Rise of AI-Driven Biohacking:
Generative AI models are democratizing scientific navigation, enabling individual owners to bypass traditional institutions to design personalized therapies. This rapid decentralized scale-up pressures governments to swiftly adapt their regulatory speeds to properly guide the technology. - Five Core Principles for Responsible Editing:
To ensure safe and ethical application, genome editing must adhere to five pillars: absolute scientific safety (preclinical validation and long-term monitoring), restriction to serious medical necessities, justice in financial and physical access, voluntary informed consent, and transparent, adaptive governance.
1. Asst Prof Heesoo Uhm, PhD
Assistant Professor of AI-Driven Molecular Biomedicine Lab at Catholic University of Korea
Main idea:
Technological innovation, whether via biological interventions or artificial intelligence, should be actively guided by a "welfarist" approach to maximize human well-being, equality, and autonomy rather than being limited merely to treating defined diseases.
Important points:
Important points:
- Prioritizing Well-Being Over Mere Health:
The true baseline for technological application should be improving how well human lives go, rather than sticking to narrow statistical definitions of disease. Biological interventions should be used to improve well-being, equalize natural inequalities, and help people develop their talents in the same way social interventions like education are utilized. - Collective Reflective Equilibrium for Policy:
When navigating differing cultural ethics and policy choices, societies should use a methodology that aligns broad ethical principles (like maximizing well-being, freedom, and justice) with the localized values of that specific population. - Equitable Distribution of Enhancements:
If technologies like cognitive or physical enhancements are proven to improve human well-being, they should be treated as basic rights and provided at a foundational level by society, similar to public healthcare and education. - Consideration of Inaction and Moral Bioenhancement:
Societies must evaluate the long-term catastrophic consequences of not employing enhancement technologies. Genetic contributions heavily influence human moral limitations and personality disorders, highlighting a distinct need to consider moral bioenhancement. - Justifiability Over Explainability in AI:
In the realm of artificial intelligence, achieving complete explainability is less critical than ensuring justifiability. Human agency is preserved when individuals make active, reason-based choices supported by the evaluated outcomes and justifications provided by AI systems.
2. Prof Julian Savulescu
Chen Su Lan Centennial Professor in Medical Ethics, and Head of Centre for Biomedical Ethics, National University of Singapore
Main idea:
Modern AI represents a powerful, non-conscious token-generating mechanism whose rapid integration into urban environments poses risks to human neurological makeup and democratic governance, demanding clear conceptual distinctions between relational identity, morals, and institutional control. Important points:
Important points:
Important points:
- AI as Token-Generating Software:
What society defines as artificial intelligence is inherently token-generating software that organizes symbols sequentially. It mimics language through powerful pattern recognition rather than possessing genuine consciousness or intelligence. - Separation from Nature and Neurological Risk:
Humans evolved to develop intelligence through direct contact with nature. The massive acceleration of urban megapolitan systems and screen-mediated existences creates a separation from nature that structurally alters human neurological makeup due to brain plasticity. - Relational and Non-Fixed Identity:
Drawing from Buddhist philosophy, the self is not a fixed entity but a relational process of discernment. Because identity is inherently relational, morality and ethics emerge directly from the quality of these relationships with one another and with nature. - Authoritarian Nature of AI Systems:
AI technologies are fundamentally authoritarian expert systems rather than democratic ones. They are developed privately away from the public eye, yet they rely entirely on infrastructure and data crawled from the public sector. - Geopolitical Acceleration and Deontology:
The West is severely lagging behind China's accelerated technological development, posing critical international governance problems. To prevent turning into a purely machine-driven society, communities must refuse to compromise on deontology (duty-based ethics) in favor of simple, outcome-driven metrics.
3. Dr Layne Hartsell
Research Professor at the Asia Institute, Chulalongkorn University
Main idea:
Integrating advanced genomic data into public health frameworks—exemplified by Thailand's national sequencing initiatives—can systematically prevent adverse drug reactions and uncover novel treatments, but it requires parallel legislative protections against genetic discrimination.
Important points:
Important points:
- National Integration of Genomic Sequences:
Through programs like Genomics Thailand, societies are actively sequencing tens of thousands of individuals to analyze data, pinpoint disease causes, and return actionable health insights directly to patients within the public system. - Preventing Adverse Reactions and Personalizing Care:
Genetic data can be used to pre-screen populations for specific markers that trigger severe, life-threatening adverse reactions to common medications. Integrating these risk profiles into mobile applications puts preventative, personalized medicine directly into citizens' hands. - Combining Genetics with Traditional Herbal Medicine:
Scientific testing of long-established traditional herbs reveals multi-disease therapeutic mechanics. Merging traditional herbal profiles with modern genetic insights opens up a new frontier of scientifically verified, highly targeted alternative medicine. - Legislation Against Genetic Discrimination:
As access to genetic data scales publicly, it is vital to establish strict legal protections, such as a Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. This prevents insurance companies or employers from utilizing a person's baseline genetic risks to deny them essential benefits.
4. Dr Surakameth Mahasirimongkol, MD
Director of Information and Communication Technology Center at Ministry of Public Health of Thailand
Main idea:
Gene editing serves as a powerful beacon of hope to eliminate chronic patient suffering, but given the limited availability of long-term clinical data, it should strictly be utilized as a medical therapy rather than a tool for social competition and human enhancement.
Important points:
Important points:
- Gene Editing as a Source of Hope:
At its core, genome editing is not about superficial human upgrades; it is a clinical instrument born from the needs of families suffering from long-term, uncurable genetic diseases. - The Speed and Complexity of Translation:
Technologies like CRISPR have moved remarkably fast from laboratory discovery to human clinical trials and official regulatory approval. Navigating this complex process requires seamless collaboration among scientists, manufacturing cleanrooms, rigorous quality control, and long-term patient follow-ups. - Therapeutic Efficiency in Chronic Diseases:
When applied strictly as a therapy—such as modifying a patient's blood stem cells to treat thalassemia—the technology has proven to be highly efficient and safe, completely freeing patients from a lifetime of continuous blood transfusions. - Rejection of Enhancement and Social Competition:
Because human traits like intelligence or physical appearance are polygenic and heavily driven by social and behavioral factors, editing for enhancement is scientifically reckless. Furthermore, opening the door to enhancement creates toxic social pressures for families to constantly "upgrade" their children, turning medicine into an aggressive tool for social status.
5. Dr Warut Tulalamba
Researcher of Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital Mahidol University