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. Hardly a day goes by without notification of a new gene discovery in the popular press. Sometimes these discoveries are valid and durable. The discovery of a gene family that suppresses tumor growth, for example, may presage new cancer therapies.