The Integrity of the Human Species: Comparative Legal Perspectives

The Integrity of the Human Species: Comparative Legal Perspectives 

Monday 18 May 2026, 1pm - 3pm

Seminar Room 63, Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities

All Welcome

Speaker: Naz Gün (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales –Centre Georg Simmel, France)

The integrity of the human species is a concept that raises questions at the intersection of medicine, ethics, philosophy, and also law. From a legal perspective, the notion of the integrity of the human species refers to the protection of the genetic identity of the community of human beings from a transgenerational standpoint. It aims to safeguard both present and future generations in order to preserve the « essence » of the human species, by limiting genetic interventions that could alter its fundamental characteristics. However, how has this « essence » been defined by law ? 

At the international level, the integrity of the human species is reflected in a range of standard-setting instruments, such as UNESCO declarations and, at the European level, the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine (Oviedo Convention). In France, as an extension of the principle of human dignity, the Civil Code states that no transformation may be made to genetic characteristics with the aim of modifying a person’s descendants. Nonetheless, certain genetic interventions remain permissible, provided that they pursue a therapeutic purpose and do not give rise to heritable modifications. 

This seminar seeks to examine how international actors, particularly within intergovernmental organisations, and French legislators have defined and interpreted the notion of the integrity of the human species since the 1990s, how and why this framework has evolved through successive legal reforms, and how it compares with the corresponding legal framework in the United Kingdom. 

Finally, this seminar aims to explore whether the definition of the integrity of the human species is a subjective social construct that evolves according to the time and place in which it has been developed. It will examine how different legal systems have addressed the same ethical questions and how disciplines outside of law have contributed to the creation of norms and definitions.