Genetics & Genomics

  • Read more: Breaking Good: A Short Ethical Manifesto for the Privacy Researcher

    Breaking Good: A Short Ethical Manifesto for the Privacy Researcher

    By Michelle Meyer This post is part of Bill of Health‘s symposium on the Law, Ethics, and Science of Re-Identification Demonstrations. We’ll have more contributions throughout the week, and extending at least into early next week. Background on the symposium is here. You can call up all of the symposium contributions here (or by clicking…

  • Read more: Re-Identification Is Not the Problem. The Delusion of De-Identification Is. (Re-Identification Symposium)

    Re-Identification Is Not the Problem. The Delusion of De-Identification Is. (Re-Identification Symposium)

    By Michelle Meyer This is the second post in Bill of Health‘s symposium on the Law, Ethics, and Science of Re-Identification Demonstrations. We’ll have more contributions throughout the week, and extending at least into early next week. Background on the symposium is here. You can call up all of the symposium contributions by clicking here…

  • Read more: Kudos to This American Life

    Kudos to This American Life

    By Michelle Meyer A few weeks ago, I blogged about a recent episode of This American Life, “Dr. Gilmer and Mr. Hyde,” about the quest of one Dr. Gilmer (Benjamin) to understand why another, beloved Dr. Gilmer (Vince), had brutally murdered his own father after hearing voices that compelled him to do so. The episode…

  • Read more: Online Symposium on the Law, Ethics & Science of Re-identification Demonstrations

    Online Symposium on the Law, Ethics & Science of Re-identification Demonstrations

    By Michelle Meyer Over the course of the last fifteen or so years, the belief that “de-identification” of personally identifiable information preserves the anonymity of those individuals has been repeatedly called up short by scholars and journalists. It would be difficult to overstate the importance, for privacy law and policy, of the early work of…

  • Read more: Privacy and Progress and the Deidentification of Whole Genome Sequence Data

    Privacy and Progress and the Deidentification of Whole Genome Sequence Data

    By Elizabeth Pike and Kayte Spector-Bagdady [Posted on behalf of Elizabeth Pike and Kayte Spector-Bagdady from the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues – and cross-posted here.] In the most recent issue of the Hastings Center Report, Drs. Amy Gutmann and James Wagner of the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues (the Bioethics Commission), contributed to the lively…

  • Read more: Live Blogging from FDA in the 21st Century Conference, Plenary 2: Alta Charo on Integrating Speed and Safety

    Live Blogging from FDA in the 21st Century Conference, Plenary 2: Alta Charo on Integrating Speed and Safety

    By Michelle Meyer [This is off-the-cuff live blogging, so apologies for any errors, typos, etc] Day two of PFC’s FDA in the 21st Century conference begins with a morning plenary by the very fabulous Alta Charo, of the University of Wisconsin Law School, who is speaking on “Integrating Speed and Safety.” Today Alta is presenting what…

  • Read more: Why North Dakota’s Ban on Genetic Selection Matters (Online Abortion and Reproductive Technology Symposium)

    Why North Dakota’s Ban on Genetic Selection Matters (Online Abortion and Reproductive Technology Symposium)

    By Jaime S. King On March 26, 2013, North Dakota Governor, Jack Dalrymple, signed into law two of the nation’s most restrictive abortion bills. The first, HB 1456, prohibits providers from performing an abortion once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which can be as early as six weeks gestation (Fetal Heartbeat Ban).  The second,…

  • Read more: Impact of the “Lander Brief” in the Myriad Case – and an answer to Justice Alito’s Question

    Impact of the “Lander Brief” in the Myriad Case – and an answer to Justice Alito’s Question

    By I. Glenn Cohen  [Cross posted at Prawfsblawg.com] The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on April 15 in Association of Molecular Pathology et al. v Myriad, concerning whether human genes are patent-eligible subject matter. The case focused on Myriad’s patents on two genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, involved in early-onset breast cancer. Surprisingly, many of the…

  • Read more: Will Your Law Firm (or Other Employer) Pay for Your Egg Freezing? Should It? (Online Abortion and Reproductive Technology Symposium)

    Will Your Law Firm (or Other Employer) Pay for Your Egg Freezing? Should It? (Online Abortion and Reproductive Technology Symposium)

    By I. Glenn Cohen As John Robertson mentioned in his post earlier this week, in order to avoid age-related infertility many women are considering or will soon consider using egg freezing, as the technology has dramatically improved. As compared to freezing preembryos, for example, this is an attractive option since many of these women (heterosexual…

  • Read more: This American Life and Stigma

    This American Life and Stigma

    By Michelle Meyer Update: This American Life has made a clarification. Please see this post for more. Let me begin by saying how much I absolutely adore This American Life. I listen to it religiously. I particularly had been looking forward to the most recent pocast episode of TAL: Dr. Gilmer and Mr. Hyde. As the…