[Agence de la biomédecine: twenty years of combining ethics and innovation]

AGENCE DE LA BIOMEDECINE, TWENT YEARS OF COMBINING ETHICS AND INNOVATION.The role of the Agence de la biomédecine is to regulate and provide support for exceptional medical activities involving the donation of substances of human origin. These include areas as diverse as organ, tissue and cell transplants, medically assisted reproduction, genetics, embryo research and neuroscience monitoring. Each of these topics open new perspectives in terms of health, care and research, but also raises new ethical, social and legal challenges. These call for specific regulations to provide a framework for medical and scientific practices and to ensure human rights respect. They go together with a gradual redefinition of the role of GPs in these new clinical pathways.