[beaconstudios]

I think the ethics on this wander close to the ethics of personal drug consumption, or at least smoking. Sure, it's his body and he should have personal autonomy, but there's a possibility (maybe high, maybe low, I don't know) that he could end up sick and reliant on others (medical professionals, family). I know its slightly different in the US what with the lack of socialised medicine, but it seems reasonable for society to place some restrictions on this behavior to deter or limit the potential impact on society at large. Personally, I lean more towards permitting experimentation but there's an argument to be made there.

[phkahler]

> he could end up sick and reliant on others...

He could also get that way from driving a car, being thrown from a horse, or any number of activities that are a personal choice.

Maybe a bunch of people try this and end up with terrible side effects. Researchers will still be interested in the results if they know what a person did to themself. And then maybe some of them will have good results and then we'll all know. It's a mixed bag and probably a very tiny percent of the population. I say let em go for it.

[beaconstudios]

So do I, but I'm accepting it on the belief that the benefit to liberty is greater than the cost to society and potentially themselves. I don't think amateur injections would provide any meaningful data due to the sample size of 1 plus most likely lower standards of protocol and rigour. But you need a damn good reason to curtail individual liberty.

[drak0n1c]

It's still a big factor in the US. Unpaid hospital bills get factored into prices charged to other patients, and insurance premiums go up as costly treatments increase. Especially since ACA, which legally requires insurance to cover medical care in additional ways. There would have to be an additional law allowing insurers to charge different rates for people who voluntarily wounded themselves or grown obese.

[beaconstudios]

is it not legal to charge fat people more for health insurance? If not, that's ridiculous.

[MiddleEndian]

I'm in favor of decriminalizing and/or legalizing most drugs as well. To be honest, if something actually worked to modify one's body as well as this guy is imagining crispr to work for $20, medical costs will likely drop substantially.