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Jochen Taupitz

The Use of Human Bodily Substances and Personal Data for Research: The German National Ethics Council's Opinion

Collections of human bodily substances as a promising instrument of medical and pharmaceutical research

Human bodily substances are an important resource for establishing the causes and mechanisms of a large number of disorders, in particular those widely disseminated among the population. The more thoroughly the human genome is understood, the more it is becoming possible to identify the role not only of external factors such as environmental agencies or lifestyle but also of hereditary predispositions (genes) in their causation. Scientific interest here as a rule centres not on individuals but mostly on very large population groups. For this reason, collections of human bodily substances and the associated medical data have taken on enormous significance in modern medicine. Lately these collections have even acquired a specific name: “biobanks”.

Journal of International Biotechnology Law, Walter de Gruyter

Print ISSN: 1612-6068
Volume: 3, 01/2006
Pages: 25 - 32

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