Human Rights

Human rights law and discourse help to ensure respect for individual worth and the common good in the face of powerful biotechnologies. Claims to universal human rights depend, in part, on formal recognition of our common humanity. Many countries and international declarations use human rights as a broad framework for establishing policies regarding human biotechnologies. 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, both of which reject biotechnology applications that would alter the genomes of future generations.

Congress Wants to Give Companies the Right to Own Our Genes

By Lori Andrews, Guest Contributor | 06.18.2019

Biopolitical Times

Editors note: This article was originally published on ourbodiesourselves.org and is reposted here with generous permission from Our Bodies Our Selves.

Six years ago, on June 13, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court in AMP v. Myriad took a great step forward for women’s health by unanimously ruling that human genes could not be patented. Now a bipartisan group of Senators and Representatives have released a bill that would allow companies to own our genes once again.

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U.S. Federal

Genetics and Privacy: Part 1

By Pete Shanks | 04.04.2019

Biopolitical Times

Ancestry Testing and Forensics

FamilyTreeDNA has produced a TV ad with a remarkable sales pitch: Help the police by signing up with us. The commercial features the father of a crime victim:

“When a loved one is a victim of a violent crime, families want answers … your help can provide the missing link.”

The company is the oldest DNA ancestry testing service, but not the largest. Evidently they hope to increase their database by incorporating data generated by...

Genetic Selection