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. This primer explains the basics of DNA science and the Human Genome Project and offers a glimpse into the potential benefits and pitfalls of an astonishing array of some current and future applications of this powerful new technology. Although scientists agree on a connection between genes and behavior, the likelihood that we soon will use genetic analysis to accurately predict behavior or explain a criminal act is not great.