title: [Moral status of the embryo].
abstract: Diagnosis for the purposes of embryo selection prior to implantation, research using embryos and the German embryo Protection Act (1991) constitute the starting-point for a discussion of the legal and moral status of embryos. Since the entire genetic programme for a future human being is established at the point of completed union of female egg-cell and male sperm-cell, the embryo conceived in vitro also benefits from the protection of human dignity. It may therefore not be treated exclusively as an object of another's purposes, in other words, it may not be exploited for research or rejected after pre-implantation diagnosis. This conclusion is in accordance with constitutional case-law and international human rights treaties. Research using embryos is permissible in the case of one narrowly circumscribed exception, which will be more closely defined.
authors.affiliation: Universidad de Göttingen, República Federal de Alemania.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Starck
mesh_terms: D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D006801:Humans; D028723:Personhood; D012106:Research / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence
vernacular_title: El estatuto moral del embrión.