ABSTRACT: Negligent exchange of embryos, blackout of bio-banks, seizure, and confiscation of cells, patent protection of biotech inventions achieved from blastocysts, robbery of oocytes with coerced fertilization, and post-mortem implantation. These are just some of the events with which Italian and European courts have been called upon to deal over the past decade, and they all share an interpretative knot: the legal status of the human embryo, in the absence of a clear legislative framework. For these reasons, the analysis moves from mapping all the disciplines dealing with embryonic life, within a jus-positivist perspective, and then carries out a study of the theories on the nature of the human embryo proposed in doctrine and jurisprudence. Along this itinerary, a procedural theory has been elaborated in this monograph, to identify the different stages and rules applicable to the process of nascent life, by the national rules, the guidelines adopted in the pre-trial context, and taking into account the suggestions arising from case law and a comparative study.
KEYWORDS: embryos; medically assisted reproduction; reproductive cells; reproductive rights; human body parts governance.