The Global Enforcement of Human Rights: the Unintended Consequences of Transnational Litigation

In the last few years, a growing number of individuals whose basic rights are violated have filed transnational human rights claims in foreign countries. By placing the individual as a holder of basic rights at the core of the process of development, the capability approach, as put forward by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, provides a fertile theoretical framework to assess translational human rights litigation. The paper shows that transnational claims are problematic in two regards: 1) They undermine development by discouraging foreign companies from investing in countries that are sources of transnational claims and by weakening local governments and judiciaries; 2) The conflict resolution process is inadequate because financial and practical constraints prevent stakeholders from directly participating in the process, and because assessing damages and enforcing award judgments will likely be unfair. The paper then suggests that the path to be taken involves developing a stronger rule of law, stronger local institutions and independent judiciaries in those developed countries where the violations of basic human rights take place

The Human Right to Science and Foundational Technologies

Feeney et al. (2018) make a valid argument for restrictions on the exclusivity of foundational technologies such as CRISPR. The issue of balancing intellectual property right with access to scientific and technological advancements is certainly not new. In our commentary, we argue that the human right to science offers a more concrete basis for governments to balance their competing commitments in promoting scientific development on the one hand, and ensuring benefit-sharing on the other, in ways that advance social justice under non-ideal conditions

Italy enacts new law on medically assisted reproduction

In 2004, the Italian Parliament enacted a law regulating medically assisted reproduction. Although the law recognizes as legal certain assisted reproduction techniques, several other procedures are implicitly or expressly banned: oocyte and sperm donation, using embryos for the scientific research purposes and reproductive cloning. In this article, I outline the new legal framework, pointing out some of the shortcomings of its provisions, such as the failure to define what an ‘embryo' is, the contradictions between this law and the law on abortion, the opportunity for Italian couples to circumvent some of the prohibitions by resorting to ‘reproductive tourism', and the central role that physicians play in the new legal framewor

Role of saliva, gingival crevicular fluid and oral microbiota in gastrointestinal diseases

The aim of this dissertation was the evaluation of the role of saliva, gingival crevicular fluid and oral microbiota in two gastrointestinal conditions: colorectal cancer and Helicobacter pylori gastritis. In the first study two specific sub-gingival bacteria, Fusobacterium nucleatum and Porphyromonas gingivalis, pathogens typical of periodontal disease, were analysed in order to detect possible correlations with the tumoral changes leading to colorectal cancer development. In particular, Fusobacterium nucleatum load was found different on the intestinal mucosa of patients with a diagnosis of colorectal cancer and adenoma, compared to the healty control group; on the other hand Phorpyromonas gingivalis, although non directly related with carcinogenesis, might promote the development of the first bacterium. In the second study the relatioship between the presence of Helicobacter pylori in the stomach and in the oral cavity of patients with and without gastric infection was evaluated. Data suggested that periodontal pockets could represent a favourable enviroment where the microrganism is able to replicate, slipping away from human immune system surveillance, and spread within saliva, reaching the stomach during swallowing and possibly contributing to gastric disease recrudescence. In the end, a total number of 212 patients were recruited in this experimental work and each study contributed to better understand the relevant role of oral microbiota in gastrointestinal diseases and the importance of a proper oral hygene mantainance in order to reduce the risk of developing dangerous extra-oral illnesses

Would a Gene-editing Ban Fit Human Rights Law?

The right to benefit from scientific progress, as set out in Article 15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, means that member states must “respect the freedom indispensable for scientific research”. By default, biomedical research — arguably including clinical studies involving edited germline cells — is therefore permitted

Policies to increase the social value of science and the scientist satisfaction. An exploratory survey among Harvard bioscientists.

Basic research in the biomedical field generates both knowledge that has a value per se regardless of its possible practical outcome and that has the potential to produce more practical benefits. Policies can increase the benefit potential to society of basic biomedical research by offering various kinds of incentives to basic researchers. In this paper we argue that soft incentives or “nudges” are particularly promising. However, to be well designed, these incentives must take into account the motivations, goals and views of the basic scientists. In the paper we present the results of an investigation that involved more than 300 scientists at Harvard Medical School and affiliated institutes. The study shows that basic researchers’ support for soft incentives is such that the transformative value of fundamental investigations can be increased without affecting the spirit of the basic research and scientists’ work satisfaction. After discussing the findings, we suggest a few examples of nudges and discuss one in more detail