Property and Personality Rights with Regard to Biobanks: A Layered System with Germany as an Example

Abstract

In the field of genetic research and the subsequent rise of biobanks an intensive discussion is taking place on national and international levels about property and personality rights to one's own body and body parts. The authors attempt to develop on the basis of the current controversially discussed law a concept of property, which can solve the legal and bioethical problems of the multiple use of human samples. Therefore, the question will be discussed whether a person is eligible to claim property rights to the tissue, which was separated from him. The authors' opinion is that this person only looses his property rights when all data are completely anonymised. Also the trustee model could be an efficient model, in which the tissue is safeguarded and pseudonymised by a trustee, to preserve the interests of the former owner of the human samples, but concurrently support the interests of the users.