The notion that human beings have inherent dignity, worth, and rights depends on recognition of our common humanity. Genetic manipulations that produce groups of biologically distinct people could easily unravel the progress that has been made over the past few centuries toward that recognition. Some legal scholars are already debating whether genetically altered "subhumans" should or should not be considered to possess full political rights.
Human rights provides the broad framework that many countries use when considering the new human genetic technologies. International declarations also commonly use this framework. Examples include the Council of Europe's Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine and UNESCO's Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights. See [ Policies >> International Bodies ].
Related Articles
George Annas, Lori Andrews, and Rosario Isasi, "Protecting the
Endangered Human: Toward an International Treaty Prohibiting Cloning
and Inheritable Alterations," American Journal of Law &
Medicine (Vol. 28, Nos. 2 & 3, 2002) pages 151-178
Resources
>> Items >> "Protecting the Endangered Human"
Off-Site Links
Council for Responsible Genetics, "Genetic Bill of Rights"
http://www.gene-watch.org/programs/bill-of-rights/bill-of-rights-text.html
Global Lawyers and Physicians for Human Rights - Database of Global
Policies on Human Cloning and Germline Engineering
http://www.glphr.org/genetic/genetic.htm
More Information
Analysis:
Examine the social, cultural, and economic landscape
Policies:
Read about existing and potential regulations
Technologies:
Learn the basic science and consider arguments for and against
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