By Laura Eleanor Gagnon
Thomas Jefferson wrote that “liberty . . . is the great parent of science and of virtue; and that a nation will be great in both, always in proportion as it is free.” Generations of Americans pride themselves on being citizens of the country granting the most freedoms in the world. Liberty is a cornerstone of our distinguished nation. However, the federal government has gravely impaired that celebrated liberty in the area of scientific research. Federal funding of embryonic stem cell research was prohibited, thereby inhibiting the opportunity for scientific greatness that Jefferson so eloquently described.
Of course, scientific advancement generally does not come without a price tag, especially when the advancement is truly groundbreaking. Sometimes the cost involves endangering our wildlife; other times it involves destroying the environment. In the case of embryonic stem cell research, the price tag for innovation may mean the destruction of embryos. Many Americans struggle with this tradeoff: is it worth ending the potential lives of these embryos in order to conduct research that may treat and even cure diseases crippling over 128 million Americans?
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By Catrina Sveum
This book provides an overview of the legal and scientific concepts involving the appropriation of plants for biotechnological purposes. The book focuses on the tension between developing nations and industrialized nations as plant resources become the subjects of patents.
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By Ryan Crawford
Advances in genetic modification techniques enable the creation of crops with commercially desirable characteristics. Recombined gene sequences may be inserted into a crop’s genome to protect it against herbicides, insects, or rodents. In the United States, a variety of patent and trade secret protections are afforded the developers of such crops and other genetically modified organisms. The scope of these protections has been interpreted more broadly over the years by the courts. This broadening of legal protections has occurred as the relationship between the developers of seed, the government, and farmers has changed from one in which seed development was largely the work of the government and academia, especially public universities and land grant colleges, to one in which seed development is increasingly privatized, or accomplished through the alliance of private and public forces.
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By Sheila Schwallie
Some governments have already developed opinions and drafted regulations on “designer babies” as bio-technological advances are getting close to making it a reality for parents to design their babies before in vitro fertilization. In the United Kingdom, heavy regulation of sex selection has been requested while the United States has not yet voiced a unified opinion on the issue despite the increasing use of sex selection procedures.
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