Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) and Its Current Applicatıons in Microbial Diagnosis

Abstract

Nanotechnologies, information technologies, genetic technology, synthetic biology, regenerative medicine, robotic applications, neurotechnology and artificial intelligence are some of the technologies that are developing rapidly in recent years and bring innovations to medical applications. New medical technologies enable us better diagnose and better treat many health problems. Although the main purpose of new medical technologies is to provide diagnosis and treatment of diseases, the same technologies enable us to become stronger, to live healthier and longer. This situation can lead to rapid and frequent use of developing technologies beyond purpose and may cause many ethical problems. Ethical problems that may arise are grouped under three main headings: Patient safety issues, unfair use of resources and problems of norm change. Significant complications can be seen, especially in the initial use periods of new technologies due to lack of skills of users. As the wealthy and powerful segments of the society are more privileged in the use of new technologies, there is no equitable sharing, which can lead to new humanitarian problems. Some new technologies change the individual norms and cause social pressure on the service providers, because they can be used for non-medical reasons such as looking more beautiful and younger, having a sharper memory and being fit. However, none of these ethical problems are related to the technology itself, but the knowledge, attitude and skills of those who use it. This demonstrates the importance of more ethical issues in medical education and practice.