The objects, aims and methods of research are protected from political misappropriation. But the freedom of research is limited by the clash with the legally protected third party, especially in the law of integrity of life and limb. To protect the environment from the (hypothetical) epidemiological dangers of gene technology the legislator has limited himself to measures by which he can obtain this aim with the least infringement of freedom of research. Gene technological intervention in human idioplasm is apparently not yet serious. Nevertheless the ethical and legal problems which arise form the point of view of human dignity from experiment with human genetic material should be discussed now.