Biotechnology: To Curtail or to Expand? The Ethics and Law for Those Upholding Traditional Values

Scientific progress is a natural consequence of improving living standards, better education, increased knowledge, and growing investment in research. Over the course of several centuries, industrialists have been willing to invest heavily in research, particularly in relation to developing competitive products, reducing production costs, or improving individual stages of product promotion. Ultimately, the goal was one of increasing profits. Thanks to scientific and technological progress, people today are able to solve many of their problems. Infertile couples can have children; organ transplants can be performed on people who would have previously had no chance of survival; and children born with genetic diseases can be treated. Technology has also helped to increase crop yields and do much else to combat famine. A lot of routine medical operations can be entrusted to artificial intelligence, with an increase in productivity and quality as a result. All this, however, has major legal implications, which require careful study and assessment. These include ethical and legal risks associated with the use of such technologies in situations falling under civil and family law. These are life-changing technologies, and not only for the user. Assisted reproductive technologies have allowed children to be born whose biological and social parents are different. These children’s legal family status continues to be ambiguous. Scientific and technological progress is a fact of life. It is not the task of the legal field to halt it, but to adapt traditional regulation in line with scientific accomplishments and new opportunities. What approach should be taken to assessing the legal and ethical risks of using biotechnology today? What legal mechanisms exist to protect the interests of society, the state and the public in relation to the use of biotechnology? What should be done to protect the rights of children and parents in relation to the use of assisted reproductive technologies?