Graduate Student, Law
Visiting Student
Thesis Title: A comparative analysis of contemporary legal and philosophical approaches to the status of new biotechnological entities
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John Finnis
Kristin Savell |
About
“A comparative analysis of contemporary legal and philosophical approaches to the status of new biotechnological entities.”
Discussion concerning regulation of therapeutic and reproductive entities and the associated technologies has provoked significant public debate in Australia and around the world. The 1997 announcement that scientists had been able to clone a sheep –“Dolly” and the 1998 announcement that scientists had successfully isolated human embryonic stem cell lines set off a wave of controversy. Controversy which more than a decade on continues to plague scientific research and political and legal discourse.
Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer and Embryonic Stem Cell Research have promised to revolutionise degenerative medicine and inspired dreams of cures to debilitating and terminal diseases. Whilst the technology and the hypothetical application is exciting it has also raised significant ethical dilemmas, primary among which is the reality that the embryo is destroyed in the process of obtaining the stem cells. This consequence of the research is the source of one of the most significant ethical debate humankind has been privy to. The debate goes to the heart of what the essence of humankind is, what we are and where we come from.
Central to my dissertation is a consideration of different ethical and legal approaches to the analysis of both the technologies used to create new biotechnological entities and the moral and legal status of these new beings. A significant amount of my research will be undertaken at Oxford University, England. Indeed one of my co-supervisors is Professor John Finnis, Professor of Law and Legal Philosophy at Oxford University. Professor Finnis is a prolific writer and the uncontested expert on natural law jurisprudence.
The considerations and conclusions of my paper will be instructive in the understanding of different approaches towards new biotechnologies and provide guidance for future regulation. Legal changes and developments in the field of biotechnologies are often criticised for following science. The haste with which law “catches up” with science contributes to superficial ethical discussion. My research provides a real opportunity for Australian politicians and the public to be well informed in relation to the scientific and ethical considerations involved in embryo experimentation and the creation of new biotechnological entities, which inevitably will be on the domestic political agenda in the not too distant future.
Embryo experimentation, the creation of hybrids and chimeras and the introduction of the new biotechnologies are examples of scientific developments that require deep consideration of who or what entities should be considered morally significant. Ultimately there must be an integration of excellent experimental science that is attuned to community vales and regulated by an informed and functional legal framework. My contribution to this emerging field will add to the Australian and international progress in this area.
