Korean Journal of Medical Ethics

The Korean Society for Medical Ethics

Korean J Med Ethics 2005; 8(1):21-33

pISSN: 2005-8284, eISSN: 2234-3598

DOI: https://doi.org/10.35301/ksme.2005.8.1.21

Article

생명윤리 및 안전에 관한 법률'에 대한 비판적 분석*

김중호¹, 구인회¹, 홍석영²^,^*, 구영모², 이경상³

A Critical Analysis of the 'Bioethics & Biosafety Act'

Joong-Ho KIM¹, In-Hoe KU¹, Suk-Young HONG²^,^*, Young-Mo KOO², Kyung-Sang LEE³

¹가톨릭대학교 가톨릭생명윤리연구소

²울산대학교 의과대학

³가톨릭대학교 신학대학

¹Catholic Institute of Bioethics, The Catholic University of Korea

²College of Medicine, University of Ulsan

³College of Theology, The Catholic University of Korea

^*교신저자 : 홍석영. E-mail: hsy@catholic.ac.kr

ⓒ Copyright 2005 The Korean Society for Medical Ethics. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Published Online: Jun 30, 2005

ABSTRACT

We critically examine the 'Bioethics & Biosafety Act'(Act No. 7150), gone into effect in January 2005, and propose the directions to be considered for the amendment of this Act. This Act is the first comprehensive law in bioethics in Korea. But this Act has serious problems with respect to the dignity of human life.

1. The legislation of this Act was in such a hurry that it failed to offer sufficient time for debating controversial issues.

2. The purpose of the Act, 'creating environment that enables the development of life science', is inappropriate. The purpose of the Act must guarantee and protect the human dignity in life science, instead

3. With regard to National Bioethics Committee, there are problems of composition. The number of government minister should be reduced. The majority of the Committee members should come from the outside of the government.

4. Concerning Institutional Review Board, the total number of non-medical/scientific members and external members should count at least one-fifth of the entire committee.

5. The ban on human cloning should read to include the prohibition on the somatic cell nucleus transfer.

6. The ban on the transfer of embryos between different species should include the ban on the transfer of a human somatic cell nucleus to a an animal egg from which nucleus was removed.

7. 'Embryo Production Research'(Chapter 3) should be completely amended or eliminated. Because human embryo is not a mere cell but an early stage of human life, the research destroying human embryo should to be banned.

8. Some articles related to 'DNA testing', 'Protection and Use of Genetic Information', and 'Punishment' need to be specified or amended.

9. We propose the article on 'Support for Adult Stem Cell Research' to be amended: 'The national and local governments should prioritize financial support for adult stem cell research.' 10. The interim measures on remaining embryo research and embryonic stem cell research listed in 'Additional Provisions' should to be deleted.

Keywords: 생명윤리 및 안전에 관한 법률; 국가생명윤리심의위원회; 기관생명윤리심의위원회; 인 간 복제 금지; 배아의 생성 및 연구; 성체줄기세포

Keywords: Bioethics & Biosafety Act; National Bioethics Committee; Institutional Review Board; The ban on human cloning; Embryo Production Research; Support for Adult Stem Cell Research