Genetic safety in Russia: threats and legal regulation perspectives

Abstract

The article provides a general theoretical and legal analysis of a little-studied legal category - genetic safety. Based on the study of the Russian and foreign scientific literature and a number of legal acts, the authors identified the main threats to genetic safety and pointed out specific issues requiring detailed analysis and legal assessment. In particular, the authors consider the results of genetic testing in the armed forces (shown using the experience of the United States). The authors came to the conclusion that at present Russia is significantly lagging behind the advanced foreign states in the genetic safety legal regulation. This is confirmed by the lack of relevant laws and the documents of organizations carrying out this activity (the so-called “self-regulation”). It seems that the positive experience of genetic safety regulation issues in leading foreign countries can be used to improve the regulatory framework in the Russian Federation.