Ethical and legal aspects of editing a patient’s genome for non-medical purposes

Abstract

The need for knowledge of one’s own biological nature was a crucial impetus for scientific-technological progress in the fields of molecular biology, chemistry, and genetic engineering, which soon turned into a way to control human genetic material and its evolution. Although the procedure for reconstructing the personality genome is designed to protect humanity from hereditary or oncological diseases, there is still a huge risk of using this technology to modify intellectual abilities or physical characteristics. The purpose of this study is to describe and characterize the moral, ethical, and legal factors that arise in using technology to correct a person’s genetic code for non-medical reasons. Through systematic analysis and dialectical method, the current state of the legislative framework in the field of editing the biological material of the individual was investigated, while the generalisation method allowed identifying the main bioethical dilemmas associated with a certain problem. Exploring the possibility of changing the human genome through the prism of its interdependence with globalising metamorphoses in society, the key threats of the use of technology, its impact on the formation of the latest ethical standards, and compliance with the fundamental rights and freedoms of the patient were identified. Therewith, focusing on identifying gaps in the regulatory regulation of the human genome correction procedure, recommendations were made to improve the international legal foundation in this area of legal relations. In general, the chosen subject contains a considerable number of still unexplored aspects, so this study is designed to draw the scientific community’s attention to the problem of editing a person’s biological identity for non-medical purposes

Keywords

• the fourth generation of human rights
• nature of the individual
• civil rights of the patient
• innovative technologies
• the right to privacy