2022 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Politics at the Start of Life: The Case of Life Selection in Japan
| Project/Area Number |
20K01446
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| Research Institution | Osaka University |
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Principal Investigator |
Croydon Silvia 大阪大学, 大学院人間科学研究科, 准教授 (00634643)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2020-04-01 – 2025-03-31
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| Keywords | 生殖補助医療 / 体外受精 / 着床全遺伝子診断 / 草の根優思想 / 日本産婦人科学会 / 医療観光 / 国境を越える患者たち / 障碍者運動 |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
Access to the procedure known as pre-implantation genetic testing for monogenic disorders (PGT-M), which is part of an arsenal of treatments that drives the wave of new, “grassroots eugenics,” remains extremely limited in Japan. Many countries with advanced technological and biomedical know-how gave PGT-M a legal status soon after the pioneering case in London’s Hammersmith Hospital in 1988 and have since applied it widely. By contrast, in Japan, PGT-M has been implemented only on a small scale. Moreover, the procedure has not yet been accepted as standard clinical practice, with the decisions about whether to implement it or not being made on a case-by-case basis by the self-governing Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology (JSOG).
Utilizing primary and secondary sources, the PI constructed a thick description of the standoff over PGT-M in Japan since the early 1990s.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
By reconstructing the narratives of the individuals and groups concerned with PGT-M in Japan, the PI established that in this case of conflict resolution in Japan the conservative stance of those at the periphery prevailed over the interests of those with a direct stake. Whilst the PI also challenged existing claims by bioethicists who view the universal acceptance of a new-eugenics procedure such as PGT-M as a foregone conclusion, she has some more work to do to fully address this issue and this is precisely where her efforts will be directed next.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
The PI plans to continue enriching the narrative constructed on the standoff in Japan between concerned social groups over PGT-M. The PI will continue to use her gathered material so far (from interviews and other fieldwork activitiers as well as documents vailable on the internet) to illustrate the deadlock reached between, on the one hand, the individuals of reproductive age who are impacted by a heritable condition and their families, and on the other hand, groups identifying as feminist, who see the procedure as unnecessary pressure on women and those working to promote disabled people’s rights, as well as professional medical societies involved in the diagnosis and the management of genetic disorders.
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| Causes of Carryover |
The PI has several outstanding interviews and appointments for exchanges in the United Kingdom and Europe more broadly, as well as an accepted paper to present at the 17th European Association of Japanese Studies conference at Ghent University, Belgium in the summer of 2023. The PI is planning to travel to Europe to undertake these activities, completing also her collaborative project with her colleagues there.
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