In criminal cases, genetic identification is now a commonplace technology. Genetic proofs routinely are offered in paternity actions, and genetic tests will soon flood the courtroom with evidence purporting to support medical and nonmedical cases alike. All have ethical and social implications. In turning judicial attention to some of these ripening issues, we are spurred by the velocity of genetic research and the vigorous activity to turn it into commercial products. Genetic tests are big business and are largely unregulated.
Genetic counseling is an irregular calling just taking form as a profession.
Conflicts of law surface immediately. New conflicts come into view. The first conference was held mid-May 1997, cohosted by the Superior Court of the District of Columbia and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Fifteen jurisdictions sent representatives. Cases involving scientific evidence of natural inheritance were considered against a scientific backdrop of genetics, molecular biology, and biotechnology.