This chapter argues that the notion of human dignity provides an overarching normative framework for assessing the ethical and legal acceptability of emerging life sciences technologies. After depicting the increasing duality that characterizes modern technologies, this chapter examines two different meanings of human dignity: the classical meaning that refers to the inherent worth of every individual, and the more recent understanding of this notion that refers to the integrity and identity of humankind, including future generations. The close connection between human dignity and human rights is outlined, as well as the key-role of dignity in international human rights law, and very especially in the human rights instruments relating to bioethics. The chapter concludes by briefly presenting the challenges to human dignity and human rights posed by neurotechnologies and germline gene editing technologies.

This handbook intends to offer a comprehensive and authoritative overview of the human rights implications of emerging technologies in the fields of life sciences and information and communication technologies (ICT). To this end, the volume brings together leading experts whose expertise encompasses several disciplinary domains (law, ethics, technology, basic science, medicine, business etc.) with the purpose of gathering extensive multidisciplinary knowledge about the evolutive transformation of the human rights framework in response to technological innovation.

Chapter Five presents the history of the development, in the United States as well as in Europe, of ethical concerns in science. Science is one of the highest expressions of human thought and makes a crucial contribution to the wellbeing and progress of society. This is why the right to freely conduct science is expressly protected by international human rights law (Art. 15, para 3, ICESCR). As the object of this right is ‘science’, activities conducted by scientists are protected by this right insofar as they satisfy the requirements set up by ethical guidelines and professional standards. Practices that involve fabrication or falsification of data and plagiarism contradict the very essence of science, as they encompass acts of deception of the scientific community and society. Over the past few decades, awareness has grown about the importance of adhering to ethical standards in the conduct of science. Scientific misconduct became the subject of significant public attention beginning in the 1980s, which led to public statements and guidelines by academic and funding agencies, as well as to procedures for dealing with allegations of misconduct in science.

Human rights have an internal dynamism which leads them to cover all new areas in which the most fundamental human goods are at risk. In this regard, human rights have been metaphorically compared to ‘an overflowing river that floods down across the valley, making the fields ever more fertile’. One area in which human rights have recently shown their ‘fertilising’ force is genetics, particularly a number of issues relating to genetic testing and the increasing access to personal genetic information.