A Profit Game - The Law and Economics Analysis on China's Gene Privacy Problem

摘要

With the development of gene technology, the issue of gene privacy and information utilization has been hotly discussed. The protection of gene privacy makes more people accept genetic diagnostic tests, but excessive privacy protection oppositely increases the cost of gene research and threatens to gene technological progress. It looks like that the issue is about the moral and legal constraints, but virtually the profit game between protection of the genetic privacy and genetic information using is hidden behind. Gene providers want to reduce the cost of protect privacy, developers need to access to genetic resources to generate greater profits. Due to the information asymmetry between them, the balance cannot be formed. Both sides tend to pursue their own interest maximization. Law is for the protection of the weak, and economics is for efficiency. Legislation needs to balance the interests of both sides and the public to determine the specific rules of operation. According to microeconomics, under the condition of constant demand, insufficient supply will lead to price increase, which can increase the income of the relevant parties to obtain privacy, thus increasing the possibility of infringement. In China, due to the game of multiple profits, it is difficult to balance the rights and interests of all parties involved in the legislation of gene rights. This paper makes a law and economic analysis of gene privacy and clarifies the important principles of gene privacy in order to improve the legal system for protecting gene privacy and using genetic information. The author believes that only by allowing the parties to negotiate on collection, utilization and custody, can the overall welfare of the society be improved. The government should participate in the establishment of a gene bank regulatory system to ensure the safety of genetic information at the source and eliminate public concerns about the safety of gene privacy. Gene privacy supervision should consider the differences between countries, and clarify the rights and obligations of the multi-level regulatory system from aspects of legal supervision, government supervision and industry supervision, which was effective to prevent illegal use of genetic information.