Preview

Actual Problems of Russian Law

Advanced search

Bioconstitutionalism as a Manifestation of Adaptive Constitutionalism: The Transformation of Constitutional Values under conditions of Biotechnological Challenges

https://doi.org/10.17803/1994-1471.2026.190.9.028-041

Abstract

In the context of the rapid development of biotechnologies capable of radically transforming the biological and cognitive foundations of human existence, there is an urgent need to develop a new constitutional law paradigm capable of safeguarding the anthropological core of the legal order. The study substantiates the concept of bioconstitutionalism as a specialized form of adaptive constitutionalism aimed at preserving biological integrity, cognitive autonomy, and human dignity in an era when human nature itself has become an object of technological design. The paper demonstrates that traditional constitutional values require ontological reconsideration and an expansion of their substantive scope in response to the challenges posed by gene editing, neurotechnologies, reproductive innovations, and the commercialization of genetic data. Particular attention is paid to germline genome editing, the consequences of which are irreversible and heritable and affect the rights of future generations. In this context, the human genome is conceptualized as a bearer of a person's constitutional identity, while any unauthorized intervention is regarded as an infringement of human dignity. The author introduces the concept of cognitive integrity, defined as the right to protect one's mental processes from external reading, recording, or modification through neural interfaces. Such protection is becoming a necessary condition for the exercise of freedom of conscience, freedom of expression, and freedom of will. The article emphasizes that bioconstitutionalism is not a prohibitive mechanism intended to restrict scientific progress; rather, it establishes constitutional limits on biotechnological interventions on the basis of the principles of intergenerational justice, the prohibition of dehumanization, and the primacy of bioethical norms.

About the Author

S. Yu. Poyarkov
Federal State Unitary Enterprise «All-Russian Research Institute for Physical-Technical and Radio Engineering Measurements» (VNIIFTRI)
Russian Federation

Sergei Yu. Poyarkov, Cand. Sci. (Pedagogy), Academic Secretary



References

1. Kravets I. A. Bioneyrokonstitutsionalizm i dostoinstvo: teoreticheskie osnovaniya, dialog etiko-pravovykh trebovaniy i perspektivy vzaimodeystviya (ch. II) // Zhurnal rossiyskogo prava. — 2022. — T. 26. — № 6. — S. 5–31.

2. Kravets I. A. Konstitutsionnaya bioyurisprudentsiya i dostizhenie bioeticheskogo blagopoluchiya (ch. 1) // Sravnitelnoe konstitutsionnoe obozrenie. — 2022. — № 2 (147). — S. 16–42.

3. Krylatova I. Yu. Priroda prava na bioeticheskoe dostoinstvo lichnosti i ego sintez v konstruktsii prav cheloveka // Vestnik Gumanitarnogo universiteta. — 2024. — T. 12. — № 1. — S. 113–119.

4. Poyarkov S. Yu. Adaptivnyy konstitutsionalizm: kontseptualnye osnovaniya i institutsionalnye mekhanizmy v usloviyakh politiko-pravovoy turbulentnosti // Administrativnoe i munitsipalnoe pravo. — 2025. — № 3. — S. 67–85.

5. Cohen J. Embattled Russian scientist sharpens plans to create gene-edited babies // Science. — 2023. — URL: https://www.science.org/content/article/embattled-russian-scientist-sharpens-plans-create-gene-editedbabies (data obrashcheniya: 05.04.2025).

6. Jasanoff S. (ed.). Reframing Rights: Bioconstitutionalism in the Genetic Age. — Cambridge: MIT Press, 2011. — 320 p.

7. Sandel M. J. The Case Against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering. — Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007. — 176 p.

8. Strauss D. A. The Living Constitution // The University of Chicago Law School. — 2010. — URL: https://www. law.uchicago.edu/news/living-constitution (data obrashcheniya: 05.04.2025). 9. Weiss E. B. In Fairness to Future Generations: International Law, Common Patrimony, and Intergenerational Equity. — Tokyo; New York: United Nations University Press, 1989. — 385 p.


Review

For citations:


Poyarkov S.Yu. Bioconstitutionalism as a Manifestation of Adaptive Constitutionalism: The Transformation of Constitutional Values under conditions of Biotechnological Challenges. Actual Problems of Russian Law. 2026;21(9):28-41. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17803/1994-1471.2026.190.9.028-041

Views: 5

JATS XML


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.


ISSN 1994-1471 (Print)
ISSN 2782-1862 (Online)