What makes you relinquish your right? the use of human biological materials and benefit sharing

Abstract

With the advancement of biotechnologies, human biological materials have increasing value and uses in biomedical research and in the pharmaceutical industry. In Korea, a national biobank project started in 2008 to support research. However the problem of donors’ relinquishment comes up in the process of collecting bodily samples, which is related to uncertainty of legal status of human biological materials removed from a human body. This paper examines injustice of donors’ relinquishment through literature search, legal review and in-depth interview, and then suggests an ethical ground for benefit sharing through the “limited property rights” approach to human biological materials. It argues that a public concept of human biological materials is a valuable alternative to the current practice.