EDIÇÃO GENÉTICA PREVENTIVO-TERAPÊUTICA EM HUMANOS E EMBRIÕES: UMA ANÁLISE SOBRE A RESPONSABILIDADE CIVIL

Abstract

This paper conducts a study on civil liability in the context of preventive-therapeutic genetic editing in humans and embryos. It begins by presenting the origin and evolution of genetic editing. Then, it defines genetic editing and discusses its characteristics, types, potentialities, and limitations, with particular emphasis on the CRISPR-Cas9 technique. Following this, the study explores how genetic editing is addressed in both foreign and national legal systems, as well as examining the bioethical and legal challenges the technique poses to society, such as harm to the collective genetic heritage and the risks associated with its application to the germline. With regard to civil liability, the paper investigates how the current legal framework could govern legal relationships arising from preventive-therapeutic genetic editing in the eventual — though not improbable — case of its integration into the Brazilian legal system. As for methodology, to achieve the outlined objectives, a qualitative and bibliographic approach was adopted, relying on research from digital databases. The materials used included legal works, legislative enactments, scientific articles, monographs, and judicial precedents related to the research topic. The paper acknowledges gene therapy as a result-oriented service and likens it to aesthetic plastic surgery. It also recognizes the applicability of the objective theory of civil liability to genetic editing. It concludes that the application of civil liability regimes to genetic editing requires the attention of legal scholars, legislators, and specialists in the field, in the pursuit of pragmatic and efficient solutions, ensuring legal certainty in the relationships involved in preventive-therapeutic genetic editing.