Human cloning ethical and legal issues

Abstract

In developing science and society, the questions about the acceptability of the use of certain invented technologies arise more frequently. These issues require an unambiguous solution and monitoring of its implementation. One of the most pressing contemporary issues of biomedicine is the possibility of human cloning, the legal regulation of which has not been developed. The aim of the work is to analyze the existing ethical and legal framework of human cloning in the Russian Federation and to develop proposals for its improvement. The authors studied the materials published since the invention of cloning technology, such as speeches by leading scientists, scientific publications on this topic, the work of research groups (both in support of cloning and against it), as well as the results of sociological surveys of the population, legal acts of the Russian Federation, the experience of foreign states in the regulation of biotechnology. The lack of legal regulation of the process of human cloning in the territory of the Russian Federation was revealed. To supplement it, the following proposals are suggested: (1) clarification of terminology in legislative documents and legal consolidation of the concepts of therapeutic and reproductive cloning; (2) establishment of penalties for violation of prohibitions on the use of technology and definition of mechanisms for the enforcement of these penalties; (3) development of the direction of “somatic human rights” and, with a view to the future, consolidation of human clone rights. The authors believe that in the presence of legal regulation, the development of technology will not bring moral harm to humanity.