Testing Children’s Genes vs Testing Adults’ Values: Which Life is Worth Living? by Professor Mohammed Ghaly

Prof. Mohammed Ghaly (Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar)

Genetic testing is one of the ground-breaking advancements brought forth by the field of genetics, which have revolutionized biomedical sciences. This revolutionary potential has led these technological breakthroughs to become a major target for ethical reflection within both religious and secular moral traditions. From the 1990s onwards, Muslim religious scholars and biomedical scientists, with the help of transnational Islamic institutions, have been engaging in interdisciplinary deliberations on the ethical implications of genetic technologies, including genetic testing.

This presentation will focus on the ethical inquiries arising from three main types of genetic testing: premarital testing, preimplantation testing, and prenatal testing. By critically examining and analysing these deliberations, the presentation aims to explore the multifaceted and interrelated aspects of genetic testing in the Islamic bioethical discourse. It will illustrate how these deliberations provide answers to the question of when (human) life begins while also revealing an underlying perception of what embryonic life actually means and when it would have sufficient moral worth to be protected.