The Legal Risk of Human Enhancement Technology and Its Regulation in China ()
ABSTRACT
As
technology advances, our ability to intervene with ourselves has reached an
unprecedented height, and “human enhancement” has come into being and discussed
by the public. This paper holds that human enhancement behavior is based on
mutual voluntary medical service behavior, which is essentially a civil legal
act. In reality, human enhancement may be abused under the dual inducement of
commercial interests and social needs as the technology develops. The Chinese
government has the responsibility to be a major part in the process of
regulating the technology by law in order to minimize its harmful impact on
public stability. But some problems still exist, such as vague regulatory standards,
unclear regulatory authorities, insufficient legal responsibility response and
imperfect relief procedures. This paper focuses on the
legal issues brought about by human enhancement and discusses it in a
systematic way, and tries to put forward suggestions that could function with
China’s national conditions. As for the bottom line of human enhancement,
reproduction gene enhancement should be absolutely prohibited, and other
enhancement methods should be conditionally restricted. In terms of the overall
regulation path, it should focus on legal provisions, and implement the
regulation mode by both mild and strict laws. China should also set up special
agencies and implement strict access mechanism. At the same time, the industry
association should formulate the corresponding technical norms and cultivate
the scientific concept of the public, in order to improve the effect of legal
regulation.
Share and Cite:
Sun, Q. (2021) The Legal Risk of Human Enhancement Technology and Its Regulation in China.
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
9, 39-53. doi:
10.4236/jss.2021.95004.