Law Commons^™

Bringing Dinosaurs Back: The Moral & Legal Complications, Kacey Hovden

Animal Law Review

From Hollywood blockbusters to your local natural history museums, dinosaurs have captured the attention and wonder of the public for decades. The possibility of bringing these long extinct creatures back, once a science-fiction fantasy, is now closer to reality than ever before through a process known as “de-extinction.” This Article dives into the exploitative nature inherent in the de-extinction of dinosaurs, studying the University of Montana’s Dr. Jack Horner’s “dinochicken project” and the moral considerations implicated when conducting mass genetic engineering on sentient beings. The Article then centers itself on the ecological and legal complications likely to arise if a …

State Biotechnology Oversight: The Juncture Of Technology, Law, And Public Policy, Christine C. Vito Ph.D.

Maine Law Review

In a 1980 landmark decision, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that genetically engineered lifeforms such as bacteria were patentable. The significance of this decision to the emerging biotechnology industry—an industry predicated on intellectual property rights—was incalculable. The characteristically research-intensive, capital-intensive biotechnology industry now had the economic incentive to push the technology of genetic engineering to previously unimagined extremes. The genetic engineering and recombinant DNA applications pursued by the biotechnology industry over the past ten years have engendered a spectrum of perplexing inquiries concerning ethical and moral values; agricultural, ecological and environmental matters; global competitiveness and economic priorities; …

Change In Regulation Is Necessary For Genetically Engineered Mosquitoes, Insung Hwang

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Millions of genetically engineered (GE) mosquitoes could soon be released in Key West, Florida as an effort to eradicate wild mosquitoes that are transmitters of diseases such as malaria, dengue, and chikungunya. Both international and domestic regulations fail to provide effective regulatory schemes that can facilitate the application of this technology while ensuring all safety and environmental aspects are properly addressed. The Food and Drug Administration’s assertion of jurisdiction is based on its assessment that the GE mosquitoes are “animal drugs” under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. This is especially troublesome because the end goal of using these …

Recombinant Dna And The Regulation Of Biotechnology: Reflections On The Asilomar Conference, Ten Years After, John E. Barkstrom

Akron Law Review

The year 1985 marks the tenth anniversary of the International Conference on Recombinant DNA Molecules held at the Asilomar Conference Center, Pacific Grove, California in late February, 1975. The entire field of genetic engineering technology or "gene splicing" is not much older than the Conference itself. Many articles and much discussion have been occasioned by the recombinant DNA debate, including legal symposia held by the Universities of Southern California and Toledo. This article looks back at the events which led to Asilomar, the debate which followed, and some of the legal and ethical problems involved in the debate.

Planting A Standard: Proposing A Broad Reading Of In Re Elsner, Alicia L. Frostick

Michigan Law Review

This Note will show that one can read Elsner broadly to encompass both plant-type and widget-type inventions, and that applying Elsner to both plants and widgets is within the current statutory framework and case law. Such a reading would change the § 102 bar for inventions patentable under § 10i29 (hereinafter referred to as "widgets") as well as for plants. Part I of this Note argues that congressional sources require a flexible test-one that does not prejudice any objects under the Patent Act. Part II discusses the judicial interpretation of the Patent Act prior to Elsner in order to argue …

Toward A More Communitarian Future? Fukuyama As The Fundamentalist Secular Humanist, June Carbone

Michigan Law Review

With The End of History and the Last Man, Francis Fukuyama established himself as the prophet of liberal democracy and free markets, heralding their triumph as the only form of governance capable of commanding legitimacy. Asked to reflect on his predictions a decade later, Fukuyama concluded that the greatest threat to liberalism comes from biotechnology because it alone has the potential to remake the human nature that liberal democracy was designed to serve. Fukuyama makes a compelling case that biotechnology may produce developments that should concern us; he is ironically less persuasive in articulating a liberal-democratic framework for governing the …

Disease Management And Liability In The Human Genome Era, Larry I. Palmer

Villanova Law Review

No abstract provided.

Genetic Engineering Of Domestic Animals: Human Prerogative Or Animal Cruelty?, Michelle K. Albrecht

Animal Law Review

Selective breeding and genetic engineering of domestic animals represent two of science's most manipulative advancements of the last century. One of the many questions raised by these procedures is whether the suffering produced violates state anti-cruelty laws. California's animal anti-cruelty statute is one of the most comprehensive and progressive in the country. This article examines whether selective breeding and genetic engineering violate California's anti-cruelty statute, highlighting recent California case law interpreting these statutes and outlining the standard to determine when a violation has occurred. Furthermore, the article seeks to articulate policy suggestions to further the protection afforded these animals affected …

Federal Biotechnology Policy: The Perils Of Progress And The Risks Of Uncertainty, Al Gore

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Americans have a schizophrenic view of science and technology. Some of our greatest heroes have been technological pioneers- from the Wright brothers to Lindbergh to Chuck Yeager. Until recently, we expressed unmitigated adoration for the scientists and engineers who put man in space. Yet at the same time, many Americans are generally uneasy about the triumph of technology in their own lives. One does not have to be a Luddite to rail against computers every now and then.

In deciding how to allocate precious public resources in an era of limits, legislators must take public perceptions of science very seriously. …

The New Prometheus: Will Scientific Inquiry Be Bound By The Chains Of Government Regulation, David Favre, Matthew Mckinnon

Duquesne Law Review

This article deals with regulation of scientific inquiry and its susceptibility to constitutional protection from government impingement. The authors provide extensive definition and discussion of scientific inquiry and examine two broad bases upon which a constitutional right of scientific inquiry could rest: The first amendment and an as yet unenunciated fundamental right of scientific inquiry.