Volume 3, Issue 6

Introduction Biobanks of collected human tissue samples are rapidly expanding and becoming „essential tools in translating biomedical research into real improvements in health care”. Biobanks are rich sources for genetic research. The German National Ethics Council has noted, for example, the potential of biobanks for the identification of causes of disease and for breakthroughs in medical and pharmaceutical research. Unsurprisingly, many pharmaceutical companies operate biobank collections for research purposes and to enrol suitable clinical trial recruits so as to minimise side effects and achieve better results. Biobanks are also essential tools for conducting large-scale epidemiological studies, involving whole populations (with the neologism „epigenetic”). One commentator has noted that biobanks are invariably ”staggeringly expensive”

Introduction This article describes the legal framework as well as legal limits within biotechnological counter-terrorism with a special focus on these points: What means Black biotechnology? Bioterrorism Defence and Preparedness in a legal multi-level network Legal limits within biotechnological counter-terrorism? Perspectives on black biotechnology

Introduction Over the past few years, policy, legal and economic analysis of the complex relationships between genetic resources, biotechnology and intellectual property has multiplied. These relationships are fundamentally based on issues regarding rights over and control of biodiversity and related inventions and innovation. They notoriously confront biodiversity rich countries of the South, with technologically advanced but biodiversity poor countries of the North. Controversies are often captured under the general discussions on access to genetic resources and benefit sharing (ABS), as placed on the agenda by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) after its adoption in 1992.

Introduction Technological advances in the past few decades have enabled researchers and physicians to celebrate wondrous medical breakthroughs. Many of these evolutionary progressions are achieved by utilising human body parts and tissues in research. The sequencing of the human genome has provided the international research community with a wealth of new information to use in further researching the role of genetic susceptibility in complex diseases. However, maximizing the utilization of this information to benefit public health globally necessitates population based knowledge regarding the frequency of susceptibility alleles, disease penetrance estimates, and the role of the gene interaction. To fulfil these goals, large regional populations are being recruited in many locations for the development of genetic databases usually called bio banks or genetic banks. The ”bio” in bio bank is derived from living, biological entities: people, animals, plants, bacteria. In the realm of bio banking, people are the source of the raw material for the discovery of genes for research, diagnosis, and therapy, raising a host of issues about rights and responsibilities, fiduciary and societal obligations.