Benedict Douglas (Author)
Science, Technology, and Human Values
Volume: 43
Issue: 1
Pages: 86-94
Publication date: January 2018
Language: English
Edition Details: Special Issue: New Technologies, Developments in the Biosciences and the New Frontiers of Human Rights
Mitochondrial replacement therapy is a process whereby a child is created by combining the nuclear DNA of two people wishing to have a child with mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) donated by a third person. It poses a new question as to the extent of a person’s right to know the identity of those from whom their DNA is inherited. In commentary upon Turkmendag’s paper, I evaluate the consistency of UK regulation of this issue with the European Convention of Human Rights. Under UK law, a person created using donated mtDNA is only entitled to information about the procedure which does not identify the donor. I argue that this approach is consistent with the previous European Court of Human Rights and UK judicial decisions on the rights of individuals to information about their identity and ancestry and with the deeper foundational principle which Kai Möller argues the Convention protects existential self-understanding. I conclude that, as mtDNA has not been proven to affect an individual’s life choices and outward characteristics to the extent that gamete donation does, it is acceptable to prioritize the interests that anonymous donation protects over the desire of the recipient to know the identity of their donor.
...MoreArticle Noa Vaisman (January 2018) The Human, Human Rights, and DNA Identity Tests. Science, Technology, and Human Values (pp. 3-20).
Similar Citations
Article
Ilke Turkmendag;
(January 2018)
It Is Just a “Battery”: “Right” to Know in Mitochondrial Replacement
Article
Catherine Heeney;
(January 2017)
An “Ethical Moment” in Data Sharing
Article
Bronwyn Parry;
(January 2018)
The Social Life of “Scaffolds” Examining Human Rights in Regenerative Medicine
Article
C. Andoh;
A. Godderis;
(2019)
The Virtual Wall of the Fourth Amendment
Book
Susan C. Lawrence;
(2016)
Privacy and the Past: Research, Law, Archives, Ethics
Article
Noa Vaisman;
(January 2018)
The Human, Human Rights, and DNA Identity Tests
Article
Barbara Prainsack;
(January 2018)
The “We” in the “Me”: Solidarity and Health Care in the Era of Personalized Medicine
Book
Giorgio Giulio Santonocito;
(2022)
Storia del diritto alla salute
Article
Beth Greenhough;
Emma Roe;
(July 2018)
Exploring the Role of Animal Technologists in Implementing the 3Rs: An Ethnographic Investigation of the UK University Sector
Book
Andreas-Holger Maehle;
(2016)
Contesting Medical Confidentiality: Origins of the Debate in the United States, Britain, and Germany
Book
Ferguson, Angus H.;
(2013)
Should a Doctor Tell? The Evolution of Medical Confidentiality in Britain
Book
Sacha Molitorisz;
(2020)
Net Privacy: How We Can Be Free in an Age of Surveillance
Article
Astrid Mager;
(April 2017)
Search engine imaginary: Visions and values in the co-production of search technology and Europe
Book
Allyson N. May;
(2013)
The Fox-Hunting Controversy, 1781-2004: Class and Cruelty
Article
Austin Bryan;
(2021)
“Security begins with you”: compulsory heterosexuality, registers of gender and sexuality, and transgender women getting by in Kampala, Uganda
Article
Steven Epstein;
(October 2021)
Cultivated co-production: Sexual health, human rights, and the revision of the ICD
Article
Debbie Lisle;
Mike Bourne;
(October 2019)
The many lives of border automation: Turbulence, coordination and care
Article
Evan Selinger;
Darrin Durant;
(2022)
Amazon’s Ring: Surveillance as a Slippery Slope Service
Book
Turow, Joseph;
(2021)
The Voice Catchers: How Marketers Listen In to Exploit Your Feelings, Your Privacy, and Your Wallet
Article
Ben Collier;
James Stewart;
(2022)
Privacy Worlds: Exploring Values and Design in the Development of the Tor Anonymity Network
Be the first to comment!