Student Group Focused on Biotech
Finds No Shortage of Legal Quandaries

The vast increase in our ability to understand and manipulate our biological underpinnings has, naturally, generated substantial amounts of discussion among scientists and nonscientists alike. Since its creation two years ago by students of Stanford Law School, Stanford BioLaw has sought to create a forum for discussion and debate about the role of law in fostering and regulating biotechnology.

Stanford BioLaw is fortunate that leading experts in relevant fields are willing to volunteer their time to provide insights. Over the first two years of the organization’s speaker series, students have heard about a range of issues, including how the law affects access to AIDS medication in Africa, policy considerations in regulating potential bioweapons, trade disputes with European biotechnology companies, and the ethical oversight of government funded clinical research.

Last spring, along with continuing its speaker series, Stanford BioLaw kicked off its “Brave New Law” project. The project seeks to delve deeper into discussions of important topics currently before regulators. The first conference focused on human reproduction—a thorny, but nonetheless fundamental, dilemma facing those charged with regulating biotechnology. The conference featured experts with an array of perspectives, including law professors, geneticists, physicians, bioethicists, and members of President Bush’s Council on Bioethics. Topics included federal regulation of assisted reproductive technology (ART), constitutional restraints on congressional regulation of ART, the effects of partisan politics on biotechnology, and the interface of scientific data and the justice system. Transcripts of the conference will soon be available.

Stanford BioLaw looks forward to many more lively discussions about novel legal questions arising from the cutting edge of biology. The group is deeply grateful to its generous sponsors. In particular, the law firm of Paul Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP, a leader in biotechnology-related litigation, provided complete funding for the Brave New Law conference. The law firm of Kirkland and Ellis LLP, which opened a San Francisco office in 2003, made its own generous donation towards the speaker series.

Those interested in hearing about upcoming events should email majordomo@lists.stanford.edu with “subscribe stanford-biolaw” (no quotes) in the body. Events will also be listed at http://biolaw.stanford.edu.

— Pablo Arredondo