Genetic Engineering: Issues of Criminal Law Regulation

Abstract

The article analyzes modern scientific achievements in the field of genetic research, considers methods of genetic engineering as an integral part of modern biomedicine, and the issues of human cloning. We examine the differences between reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning, emphasizing the importance of the latter for improving human life, fighting various diseases, and so on. However, along with ethical problems, there are also problems in the world of legal regulation of genetic research and manipulation of human genes. We touch upon the problems of legal regulation of genome research and human cloning in foreign countries and in the Russian Federation, and, above all, the problems of criminal law regulation of genetic engineering. Based on a comparative analysis of international legal acts, national legislation of a number of countries and regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation, we conclude that there is insufficient legal regulation of issues related to genetic research in Russia, and, supporting the opinion of a number of scientists, we propose to introduce a number of norms in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on criminal liability for socially dangerous behavior in the field of modern methods of biotechnology, genetic engineering, and human cloning. Key words: gene; genetic research; genetic engineering; methods of genetic engineering; DNA; human cloning; criminal law regulation.