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Legal Status of Embryo LJ and AR accepted version.pdf (620.92 kB)

Human embryo gene editing in China: the uncertain legal status of the embryo

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posted on 2023-06-09, 12:10 authored by Li Jiang, Achim Rosemann
In this article we examine processes of ethical deliberation, legislative developments, and social and political factors that have contributed to the emergence of human embryo gene editing as a field of life science research in China. For this purpose, we examine conceptions of the legal status of the human embryo in three domains of China’s legal system: in patent law, in the jurisdictional domain of birth control, and in civil law. Each of these legal domains handles a different conception of the human embryo’s moral and legal status, and in all three the embryo’s status is contested and subject to changes. Our findings suggest that definitions of the legal status of the human embryo in China are at present in the midst of a renegotiation progress, which is driven by a variety of developments and causes. In this paper, we focus on three types of controversies that underlie this renegotiation process and we illustrate the conflicting aspirations, ethical arguments and moral priorities that inform these conflicts. We end this article with three lines of consideration that might structure future studies on this issue.

Funding

Germline Gene Editing in Global Context; Wellcome Trust; 204799/Z/16/Z

Bionetworking in Asia - A social science approach to international collaboration, informal exchanges, and responsible innovation in the life sciences; G0812; EUROPEAN UNION; 283219

Bionetworking in Asia - International collaboration, exchange, and responsible innovation in the life sciences; G0750; ESRC-ECONOMIC & SOCIAL RESEARCH COUNCIL; ES/I018107/1

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

BioSocieties

ISSN

1745-8552

Publisher

Palgrave Macmillan UK

Issue

1

Volume

14

Page range

46-66

Department affiliated with

  • Anthropology Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2018-02-15

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2019-03-23

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2018-02-15

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