Article Text
Abstract
The ethical aspects of biobanks and forensic DNA databases are often treated as separate issues. As a reflection of this, public participation, or the involvement of citizens in genetic databases, has been approached differently in the fields of forensics and medicine. This paper aims to cross the boundaries between medicine and forensics by exploring the flows between the ethical issues presented in the two domains and the subsequent conceptualisation of public trust and legitimisation. We propose to introduce the concept of ‘solidarity’, traditionally applied only to medical and research biobanks, into a consideration of public engagement in medicine and forensics. Inclusion of a solidarity-based framework, in both medical biobanks and forensic DNA databases, raises new questions that should be included in the ethical debate, in relation to both health services/medical research and activities associated with the criminal justice system.
- Genetic Information
- Government/Criminal Justice
- Public Policy
- Rights
- Social Aspects
This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Statistics from Altmetric.com
Other content recommended for you
- Forensic DNA databases: genetic testing as a societal choice
- Commercial DNA tests and police investigations: a broad bioethical perspective
- Biobanks for non-clinical purposes and the new law on forensic biobanks: does the Italian context protect the rights of minors?
- Spanish public awareness regarding DNA profile databases in forensic genetics: what type of DNA profiles should be included?
- Accessing medical biobanks to solve crimes: ethical considerations
- The retention of forensic DNA samples: a socio-ethical evaluation of current practices in the EU
- Biobank research, informed consent and society. Towards a new alliance?
- Individual rights advocacy in tobacco control policies: an assessment and recommendation
- Dark side of the principles of non-discrimination and proportionality: the case of mandatory vaccination
- Ethical navigation of biobanking establishment in Ukraine: learning from the experience of developing countries