p. 49015. The Body as Property
- G. T. Laurie, G. T. LaurieProfessor of Medical Jurisprudence at the University of Edinburgh
- S. H. E. HarmonS. H. E. HarmonHonorary Fellow in the School of Law at the University of Edinburgh
- and E. S. DoveE. S. DoveLecturer in Risk and Regulation at the University of Edinburgh
Abstract
This chapter examines the question of the limits set on our right to control our bodies or parts thereof. This debate has centred on the very important issue of our relationship with our body, and the status of the body, which has most recently been shaped by ideas of property. The chapter considers three aspects of that debate: property in material taken from living persons; property in material taken from cadavers; and the granting of intellectual property rights in human material.
