Nascidos para salvar: uma análise da técnica do irmão salvador à luz da dignidade da pessoa humana.

Abstract

Human life is under constant construction and scientific advances bring unique opportunities never before conceived, among these is the technique of the saviour sibling. The generation of a histocompatible human being represents a unique chance of cure for those who need hematopoietic stem cell transplants, but there is no way to ignore some fears arising from genetic selection, since it involves the human essence itself, whose manipulation can lead to the instrumentation of human life and the change of the normative self-understanding of the species. The technique demands that the saviour sibling compulsively takes responsibility for the life of his brother, since he is generated for this purpose, but it should be noted that man is not a thing; he is not, therefore, an object that can be used as a simple means. Thus, the question arises as to whether the initiative of the parents to conceive a child whose purpose is to save their brother's life is ethical? And if so, what would be the limits of the application of such a technique in the light of the principle of human dignity?