Somatic vs. Germline Genetic Engineering
One changes cells in a treated person; the other could pass changes to future generations.
The Mechanism: Somatic gene editing targets non-reproductive cells in an individual and is generally not inherited. Germline editing targets reproductive cells or embryos and could pass changes to descendants, with risks and governance varying by application.
The Philosophical Pivot: A treatment for one person can be evaluated through that person's consent and welfare; a heritable edit reaches people who cannot participate in the decision. Time becomes a moral stakeholder.
The Horizon: The distinction does not settle every question, since somatic interventions also involve uncertainty and unequal access. But heritability expands the scale of responsibility beyond a single life.
Calling an edit therapeutic does not remove disagreement about disability, diversity, and social pressure. Choices made privately can become expectations imposed collectively.
The future of genetic medicine depends on whether care can resist becoming a demand that every inherited difference be optimized away.
A change made for one generation may become an obligation inherited by another.
What decisions about future people am I willing to make without their participation, and why?