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. Drawing on human rights as a broad framework for establishing policies regarding human biotechnologies, both the Council of Europe’s Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (Oviedo Convention) and UNESCO’s Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights reject genetic modifications that would alter the genomes of future generations.

Reproductive gene editing imperils universal human rights

By Marcy Darnovsky, Leah Lowthorp, and Katie Hasson, OpenGlobalRights | 02.15.2018

CGS-authored

What do recent advances in molecular genetics have to do with human rights? Quite a lot, it turns out. And key human rights documents have recognized this for some time.

Over the past few years, new “gene editing” tools that...

Human Genetic Modification

The “Geneva Statement” Calls for Course Correction on Heritable Genome Editing

By CGS Staff | 01.31.2020

Biopolitical Times

The “Geneva Statement” is a robust and cautionary statement about the future of heritable genome editing that brings new voices and perspectives to a conversation that has so far been dominated by scientists and bioethicists.

Human Genetic Modification