Human Right Issues in Life Sciences

Abstract

"Awareness of human rights has witnessed an unprecedented enhancement and extension among China’s various strata ever since the clause that “the State respects and safeguards human rights” was written into the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China in March 2004. However, as it appears, there are still some very important human right issues in certain areas yet to be noticed and realized. Such as the human right issues centering on the right to know in the field of life sciences. A typical case at hand is the latest public concern over the proposed commercial release of genetically modified (GM) rice. In fact, long before the public began to pay attention to GM technology, which many used to regard as pure scientific matter and tend to neglect, Chinese scientists had acquired approval for the release of a number of GM crops, including cotton, tobacco and more. But to date neither China nor any country in the world has granted permit to commercialize any staple food that is genetically modified. Although the US government has approved the release of a medicinal strain of GM rice in California, the planting has not been materialized due to the opposition from the local people and government. "