A BRANCH OF SOCIOLOGY WITH CURRENT RESEARCH TENDING TO FOCUS ON SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN SOCIETY RELATING TO CONSUMPTION, CULTURAL REPRESENTATIONS, MEDICAL SCIENCE, AND HEALTH. SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES, PARTICULARLY THE NEW REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES, CLONING TECHNIQUES, AND STEM-CELL RESEARCH HAVE GIVEN THE HUMAN BODY A PROBLEMATIC LEGAL AND SOCIAL STATUS.@en-GB