The embryo at the frontiers of human: to be or not to be hu- man, that is the question

Abstract

Given the techno-scientific developments in the biomedical area, the human embryo was surrounded by different conceptions and interests. The objective of this paper is to outline an overview of existing conceptions of the human embryo, in the search of finding its moral statute. The different positions are based on scientific and philosophical arguments. The justifications for the consideration of the human embryo as a person are supported by the right to life and by moral values against the instrumentalization of the embryo. The opposite view claims that there are no ethical and metaphysical elements in the embryo and it cannot therefore be granted the status of human person to it. Despite irreconcilable conceptions, in the future these visions can be reinvented in a complex way in other socio-ecological contexts.