Science and Technology Law Commons^™

On Patenting Human Organisms Or How The Abortion Wars Feed Into The Ownership Fallacy, Yaniv Heled

Yaniv Heled

The idea of ominous technologies that put human individuals or parts of their bodies under someone else's control has been stirring emotions and terrifying people for centuries. It was a recent offshoot of this idea--the notion of “patenting humans”--that mobilized certain members of Congress to pass legislation prohibiting the issuance of patent claims “directed to or encompassing a human organism.” The values underlying this legislation may well have been agreeable, even admirable. Yet, the actual motivation for it was misguided; its execution, deeply flawed; its potential outcomes, hazardous

This Article reviews the history and background of this prohibition. It fleshes …

The Disabling Impact Of Wrongful Birth And Wrongful Life Actions, Wendy Hensel

Wendy F. Hensel

This article explores the torts of wrongful birth and wrongful life, which primarily arise when a physician or laboratory is negligent in the context of pre-natal genetic testing. In wrongful birth actions, the parents claim that if they had been properly informed of the genetic defect, they would have aborted their now-existing child or prevented his conception. In wrongful life actions, the disabled child brings suit in his own name claiming that it would have been better if he had never existed in the first place. Central to such actions is the child's assertion that his parents rightfully should have …

On Presidents, Agencies, And The Stem Cells Between Them: A Legal Analysis Of President Bush's And The Federal Governments Policy On The Funding Of Research Involving Human Embryonic Stem Cells, Yaniv Heled

Yaniv Heled

On August 9, 2001, President George W. Bush announced his policy on research involving human embryonic stem cells and proclaimed that federal funding would be allocated only to research involving human embryonic stem cell lines produced prior to his announcement (the Directive). Immediately thereafter, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that it would act in accordance and full compliance with the Directive and took action to implement it. Since then, the Directive has dictated the nature and extent of scientific research involving human embryonic stem cells. Yet, astonishingly, despite being the subject of a boisterous debate, the Directive’s legality …

The Regulation Of Genetic Aspects Of Donated Reproductive Tissue - The Need For Federal Regulation, Yaniv Heled

Yaniv Heled

It is estimated that egg and sperm donations account for more than 60,000 births every year in the United States. However, surprisingly, and despite common misconceptions, there are no federal requirements and barely any state requirements to screen and test sperm and egg donors for genetic diseases. The only nationwide standards for genetic screening and testing of donated reproductive tissue are guidelines created by professional organizations, but compliance with those guidelines is voluntary so they cannot be enforced effectively. Furthermore, the few reported cases involving children born from genetically-compromised reproductive tissue illustrate the court system’s failure to afford such children …

Healthcare Reform Creates Pathway For Biosimilar Biologics, Frederick Rein, Scott Warren, Yaniv Heled

Yaniv Heled

No abstract provided.

Response To 'Pervasive Sequence Patents Cover The Entire Human Genome', Shine Tu, Yaniv Heled

Yaniv Heled

In a widely reported article by Jeffrey Rosenfeld and Christopher Mason published in Genome Medicine, significant misstatements were made, because the authors did not sufficiently review the claims – which define the legal scope of a patent – in the patents they analyzed. Specifically, the authors do not provide an adequate basis for their assertion that 41% of the genes in the human genome have been claimed.

Teaching The Biological Clock: Age-Related Fertility Decline And Sex Education, Kerry Macintosh

Kerry L Macintosh

Fertility in women declines significantly at age thirty-two and takes a sharp downward turn at age thirty-seven. Miscarriages also increase with age. In vitro fertilization cannot reverse the effects of aging, and embryo screening, egg freezing, and egg donation are imperfect solutions.

Unfortunately, many women fail to grasp these facts until it is too late. Various factors are to blame, including physicians who shy away from the topic of age-related fertility decline, persistent messaging about the need for pregnancy prevention (implying that conception is easy), and media accounts of celebrities who are pregnant in their forties.

This Article argues that …

The Limits Of Regulatory Science In Transnational Governance Of Transgenic Plant Agriculture And Food Systems, Taiwo Oriola

Taiwo Oriola

The current national and transnational regulatory and policy framework for transgenic plant agriculture and food is arguably largely defined by science. Notably, transgenic plant agriculture policy deference to science is ostensibly premised on the general perception that science is neutral, objective, reliable, and agnostic. This is exemplified by cases ranging from Alliance for Bio-integrity v Donna Shalala, European Communities: Measures Affecting the Approval and Marketing of Biotech Products, to European Commission v Republic of Poland, in which conscientious, ethical, religious, and cultural oppositional grounds to transgenic plant agriculture and food were trumped by scientific imperatives. However, the lack of unanimity …

California Egg Toss - The High Costs Of Avoiding Unenforceable Surrogacy Contracts, Jennifer Jackson

Jennifer Jackson

In an emotionally charged decision regarding surrogacy contracts, it is important to recognize the ramifications, costs, and policy. There are advantages to both “gestational carrier surrogacy” contracts and “traditional surrogacy” contracts. However, this paper focuses on the differences between these contracts using case law. Specifically, this paper will focus on the implications of California case law regarding surrogacy contracts. Cases such as Johnson v. Calvert and In Re Marriage of Moschetta provide a clear distinction between these contracts. This distinction will show that while gestational carrier surrogacy contracts are more expensive, public policy and court opinions will provide certainty and …