NCJ Number
180927
Journal
Judicature Volume: 83 Issue: 3 Dated: November-December 1999 Pages: 132-138
Date Published
1999
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Biotechnology is a new area that has already introduced before courts and tribunals worldwide many controversial issues, including DNA typing, reproductive technologies, and the patenting of animals, and that will increasingly require the judiciary to address issues related to genetics.
Abstract
The defining characteristics of genetics include its potential to increase human welfare substantially through the discovery of new medical treatments, the prevention of existing diseases, and the introduction of food that is more nutritious and easier to grow. However, these characteristics also include the threats that biotechnology poses to the environment and human health; many of these threats could cause irreversible harm. Additional features that make biotechnology different from other technologies include the inhibiting effects of patent protection, the impact of genetics on health policy, and the ethical and religious questions posed by genetics and genetic technologies. The goal of judges is to find the appropriate balance between further advances in biotechnology and protecting the environment and human health. Judges must decide in the reality of the moment and not simply with respect to some distant goal. Four basic approaches are available to judges. Possible names for these approaches are: (1) the Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly, which regards biotechnology as an unmitigated good; (2) the Evolutionary, who believes that the legal system can prevent harm before it is out of control; (3) the Luddite, who fears technology and distrusts the law's ability to contain the harm caused by technology; and (4) the Euroskeptic, who allows technology to proceed slowly and under a watchful gaze. The Europskeptic fits well into legal precedent and is the basis of the principles of precaution and prevention. Photograph and footnotes