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Full-Text Articles in Science and Technology Law
The Code Of Life And Death, Braden R. Leach
The Code Of Life And Death, Braden R. Leach
Notre Dame Journal on Emerging Technologies
Biotechnology is advancing at an astonishing clip, but our safeguards are decades behind. Given new technologies and economies of scale, it is possible for nefarious actors to assemble deadly viruses from scratch using synthetic DNA ordered off the internet. The Select Agents statute helps to prevent malicious actors from acquiring dangerous pathogens, but the Department of Health and Human Services has interpreted it to not cover synthetic DNA. Recognizing the gap, HHS issued guidance recommending that gene synthesis companies verify their customers to ensure their legitimacy and screen genetic sequences for matches to pathogen sequences. Unsurprisingly, voluntary guidance has not …
How Congress Can Help Raise Vaccine Rates, Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, Y. Tony Yang
How Congress Can Help Raise Vaccine Rates, Dorit Rubinstein Reiss, Y. Tony Yang
Notre Dame Law Review Reflection
2019 saw an unusually high number of measles cases, and other preventable disease outbreaks, at least in part linked to vaccines refusal. States are considering legislative responses. This Essay examines what role the federal government can fill in increasing vaccines rates. The Essay suggests that the federal government has an important role to fill in funding research, coordination, and local efforts. It also suggests that a federal school vaccine mandate is likely not the solution: first, such mandates can run into plausible constitutional challenges, and second, there are policy arguments against it. The policy contentions include the unfairness of imposing …