Right to genetic intimacy: a contribution to personality rights

Abstract

Genetic information is part of the general medical databank, comprehending genetic and proteomic data, as well as being present in biological samples. The great amount of data in it leads to the idea of a transparent man. Genetic information is unique, structural, predictive, probabilistic and generative. Genetic data identify and characterize the individual by the adoption of a its own genetic endowment, and different from other beings, a reflex of its individuality and its personal character. The right to genetic intimacy is defined as the right to determine the conditions of access to genetic information. The objective element of genetic intimacy right refers to the human genome and, in the last instance and by derivation, to any tissue or part of the human body where genetic information is found. The subjective aspect to the genetic intimacy rights refers to the right “not to know” the results of genetic proofs carried out on the person or on a relative. In addition to that, the axiological dimension of the genetic intimacy right finds in the human person dignity its objective fundament, in face of the fact that the genome is what differentiates all human beings among themselves, and also it is what differentiates the human specie from all others. Taking this line of reasoning, the theory of general personality rights consubstantiate in a true general clause of the juridical system, having the unitary set as object, the person’s dynamic and evolving assets and essential valuables, as basic support, the fundamental principle expressed in article 1o, III, of the Federal Constitution, in other words, human being dignity. As a result, as the genetic intimacy rights is not provided in any normative, the axiological dimension based on the human person dignity constitutes the greater point of connection and fundament to bring it up to the level of a personality rights of the human being.