Law in the «Age of Biotechnology» (Legal Regime for Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis)

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 31-43
Author(s):  
V. V. Lapaeva ◽  

The engine of modern biotechnological development is new reproductive technologies, one of the most promising areas of which is preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). The use of this technology in Russia is currently carried out without proper legal support. The main problem in the development of the PGD legal regime is caused by the fact that this technology involves manipulation of the human embryo as a phenomenon with a special ontological status. The Christian-theological tradition, which links the birth of the human soul with the moment of conception, has a significant influence on the bioethical thought, as well as on the corresponding legal theory and practice. However, while considering the need to give a moral and religious assessment to any manipulation of the human's embryo, the development of the PGD legal regime should be based on the law principle of formal equality, according to which human repro ductive rights can be realized to the extent that they do not violate the rights of others and the common good, which is the condition for the human rights.

Author(s):  
N.A. Altinnik , S.S. Zenin , V.V. Komarova et all ,

Сurrent problems and prerequisites for the formation of the legal regime of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) are considered in Russian legislation with account the existing approaches to determining the legal status of a “pre-implantation” embryo obtained in the framework of the in vitro fertilization procedure (IVF) are discussed. The authors substantiates the conclusion that it is necessary to legally determine PGD as one of the stages of using IVF, as well as establishing generally binding requirements for the procedure, conditions and features of this diagnosis, taking into account the need to minimize the damage caused to the human embryo.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank H. Weiner ◽  

This essay is prompted by a single phrase embedded in the call for papers – “…the best of all available knowledge…” It would be easy to overlook the significance of this brief extracted fragment by taking for granted we know and understand what is indeed the best in the context of the education of an architect. Within the overall frame-work of the conference such considerations could be seen as offering a relevant dialectical antithesis to the main thesis of the conference. It is important to consider how questions of the ‘best’ in relation to knowledge have come to be seen by some as being of lesser importance in our conversations about education. If we do not strive for what is the best then we may loose an overall sense of telos or purposiveness in our various endeavors. The best is the highest good (both in theory and practice). So the best is at least a double condition rather than a singular condition. In Aristotle’s Eudemian Ethics there are no less than three philosophical meanings of the word “best”. First there is best as the Idea of the good (here Idea in a Platonic sense and the good are synonymous), secondly the best as the common good and thirdly the best in a practical sense. There is then a noble best and a practical best.The viability of the conference theme on “The Practice of Teaching and the Teaching of Practice: The Teacher’s Hunch” may actually rely upon establishing a foundation for determining what the best of all available knowledge consists of towards our common pursuits. Here one might propose the word ‘available’ be replaced by the word ‘possible’ so the fragment would now read – the best of all possible knowledge. The distinction between availability and possibility although seemingly minor becomes a crucial one. Availability has to do with use and acquisition in the sense that something or someone is either available or is not available. The notion of availability lacks the gravitas of possibility that can lead to actuality. With the idea of possibility emerges the transcendental question of the freedom for good and evil adjudicated under a form of divine justice. Invoking possibility over availability is an acknowledgment of the perennial importance of the ancient Aristotelian dyad of potency/act in the deeper back-ground of our theories and practices. In a world of crass availabilities, “need is so many bananas”. In what follows the word “knowledge” is understood in Aristotelian sense of the fourfold of causation giving us the possibility to bring forth what we know, what Heidegger poeticized as modes of occasioning – the material, formal, efficient and final causes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-118
Author(s):  
Simeneh Kiros Assefa

The criminal law is adopted as a means of achieving the common good; it is interpreted and applied by the court. The judge chooses the type of legal theory and method to employ in the interpretation and application of the criminal law. Such theories may be acquired from higher norms or from the decision of the Supreme Court. Because such choice of theory and method determines the outcome of the case, the judge is also expected to be guided by the doctrines in criminal law inspired by the values of rule of law and respect for fundamental rights, enshrined in the Constitution. This article examines how courts harmonise the application of the positive criminal law with the non-positivist theories of higher norms. After reviewing various criminal rules and their judicial application, it finds that the court applies the criminal law as it is written in disregard of the non-positivist theories of higher norms, at times in contradiction to the basic doctrines of the criminal law itself.


2007 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 699-711 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Popovsky

The desire to have healthy and happy children is the most basic parental instinct. A parent's moral obligation to care for the child extends before the moment of birth back to the point of conception. In classical Jewish tradition, the Talmud itself offers pregnant women advice on how to improve the well-being of their offspring, such as eating parsley in order to have handsome children, drinking wine in order to bear healthy children, or eating coriander to have especially plump children. We stand on the cusp of a new era today because an explosion of genetic knowledge in recent years has provided us the ability to pursue certain health and wellness advantages even before pregnancy has begun. Technology called preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) allows parents to screen the DNA of embryos fertilized in vitro and to implant only those embryos that match the parents' desired genetic makeup. This may include selecting only embryos guaranteed not to have a particular genetic disease, only embryos of one particular gender, or eventually even only embryos with a predisposition for certain traits such as height, eye color, or enhanced memory.


1970 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 311-315
Author(s):  
Yu. V. Gontar ◽  
O. Yu. Verlynskyi ◽  
A. Kyrpyi ◽  
I. E. Ylyn ◽  
A. M. Fedota

Aim. Optimization of the algorithm of complex 24 chromosomes screening in programs of assisted reproductive technologies. Methods. Research of non-disjunction chromosomes in preimplantation embryos based on the results of trophectoderm nucleus diagnostics using FISH and NGS-based CCS. During the preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) on the nucleus by FISH were used probes for chromosomes 13, 16, 18, 21, 22, X, Y. Results. Among the demonstrated cases of embryo diagnosis there was only one embryo that showed a coincidence in the results obtained by different investigation methods. In the other sample, where was diagnosed non-mosaic 18 and 22 monosomy by FISH, the NGS-based CCS showed only monosomy 18. The other embryo had ploidy mosaicism indicated by FISH, but according to NGS results it was evaluated as euploid. Conclusions. Embryos obtained in ART programs must be screened for chromosomal aneuploidy in the preimplantation period to increase the effectiveness in the programs of assisted reproductive technologies, using combination of FISH and NGS methods. Keywords: preimplantation genetic diagnosis, assisted reproductive technologies, aneuploid embryos, NGS, FISH.


Author(s):  
Susan Longfield Karr

For humanist sixteenth-century jurists such as Guillaume Budé, Ulrich Zasius, Andrea Alciati the ‘rule of law’ was central. In response to the use of law and legal theory to legitimize arbitrary forms of authority, they called for substantive reforms in legal education and practice, which could alleviate the dangers of masking the arbitrary will of rulers with the language of security, utility, and the common good. By focusing on fundamental categories such as ius, natural law, and ius gentium they effectively argued for a universal ‘rule of law’ that could hold political and legal authorities to a higher criterion of justice. In so doing, they redefined fundamental legal categories, ideas, and terms that continue to underpin and structure modern understandings of universal jurisprudence and international law to this day.


Author(s):  
V.V. Komarova , N.A. Altinnik , G.N. Suvorov

Objectives. The aim of this study is the formation of a concept of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) in the Russian Federation in the context of ensuring and protecting reproductive freedom of the individual. Material. The regulatory legal acts, the doctrinal sources of the Russian Federation are examined to identify key problems that impede the formation of the desired concept. Methods used: general philosophical, general scientific, private scientific, special (structural-legal, formal-legal). Results. The basic postulates of the concept of legal regulation of PGD in the Russian Federation are substantiated. As part of the analysis of domestic legislation, key problems are identified that impede the formation of the desired concept that meets the level of development of medical science and the needs of consumers of medical services. The conclusion is justified that it is necessary to fix at the legislative level the place of pre-plantation genetic tests in the assisted reproductive technologies system, thus giving PGD independent significance outside the context of the problems of infertility treatment. It has been argued that, in addition to the norms of the basic law on protecting the health of citizens, a separate sub-legislative normative legal act of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation should be developed in the system of legal regulation of PGD in Russia, forming a set of mandatory requirements for the PGD procedure, depending on diagnostic goals, as well as determining which methods are preferable depending on the goal and what results the consumer can count on. Conclusions. It is noted that in the system of norms on genetic research, special attention should be paid to genetic counseling, establishing mandatory requirements for the content of the consultation - in relation to PGD, this should include explanations regarding the algorithm and method of the study, the possibilities and limitations of this type of diagnosis for each a particular case, the features of its application to solve a single genetic problem.


2014 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kátia Valdrez ◽  
Elisabete Alves ◽  
Teresa Coelho ◽  
Susana Silva

<strong>Introduction:</strong> The Familial Amyloid Polyneuropathy, with the world’s largest focus in Portugal, is recognized by the National Board of Assisted Reproductive Technologies as a serious disease eligible for Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis. This study aims to determine the prevalence of the use of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis in FAP carriers followed in Unidade Clínica de Paramiloidose, Centro Hospitalar do Porto, and to identify the associated factors.<br /><strong>Material and Methods:</strong> Between January and May 2013, a representative sample of Portuguese Familial Amyloid Polyneuropathy carriers, aged between 18 and 55 years, was systematically recruited. The analysis is based on 111 carriers with previous familial diagnosis, who reported having ever tried to get pregnant after 2001. Data on sociodemographic characteristics and use of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis were collected through a self-administered questionnaire. Proportions were compared using the chi-square test. Crude and adjusted odds ratios (OR) and the respective confidence intervals of 95% (95% CI) were estimated using multivariate<br />logistic regression.<br /><strong>Results:</strong> The prevalence of use of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis was 20.7% (95% CI: 13.6-29.5). After adjustment, a household income above 1000 €/month (OR = 11.87; 95% CI 2.87-49.15) was directly associated with the use of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis, while carriers with an individual diagnosis (OR = 0.15; 95% CI 0.04-0.57) and children born after 2001 (OR = 0.07; 95% CI 0.02-0.32) revealed a prevalence of use significantly lower than those with a individual diagnosis and children born before 2001.<br /><strong>Discussion:</strong> The low prevalence of use of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis, as well as the less frequent use of the technique by those with a lower household income, shows the importance of improving access to Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis in the case of Familial Amyloid Polyneuropathy.<br /><strong>Conclusion:</strong> This work contributes to increase the sensitivity of health professionals around the use and accessibility to Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis among Familial Amyloid Polyneuropathy carriers.<br /><strong>Keywords:</strong> Preimplantation Diagnosis; Amyloid Neuropathies, Familial; Genetic Testing; Assisted Reproductive Technologies.


1987 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-112
Author(s):  
David Sidorsky

The idea of moral pluralism generates a dilemma for the practice of philanthropy. Characteristically, the practice of philanthropy assumes unity, coherence, or convergence among the diverse virtues and moral aims that it pursues. In the philanthropic tradition, it is recognized that the goals of a particular philanthropy will vary. Yet, if these are sincere expressions of the philanthropic will, each represents some portion of the manifold activity of “doing good” according to particularized choice or style. The relevant analogy should be drawn to the slogan of “giving to the college of your choice” or to worship of the one god in your own way, where the plurality of expression is not only consistent with the residual value of education or of religion, but articulates the pragmatic way to realize the underlying values of a pluralistic society.Historically, this reflects the place of a unifying religious vision of the nature of the good or of a secular conception of a public philosophy which recognized the common good. Even etymologically, the love of mankind suggests a single passion that is directed beneficently to the shared values of mankind.The theory and practice of contemporary philanthropy is necessarily pluralistic, however, and it reflects the range of decisions by individuals with different interests and values in a pluralist, democratic society. The legitimized and recognized range of philanthropies in modern societies demonstrates divergent and even conflicting perceptions of the common good or the public interest.Thus, the range of philanthropies includes support for bird watching and for business opportunities of minorities, which may require some decisions on “comparable worth” and competitive allocation of resources.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document