ABSTRACT
There is a need for a macro-bioethics or global bioethics, broadened in space, across cultures, countries, continents and in time, between distant and future generations. A global bioethics includes necessarily an intercultural dialogue. The Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights gives a specific contribution to the elaboration of an intercultural bioethics both on the level of theory and of practice. The document outlines a "universal framework" or the minimum principles considered universally essential for bioethics, identified in the promotion of "respect for human dignity", "respect for the life of human beings, and fundamental freedoms, consistent with international human rights law". The Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights constitutes a reference point for the protection of human beings in transnational research, in order to avoid economic interests prevailing over respect of dignity and justice.
