Journal of Law, Science, and Policy

Many of the failures of U.S. fisheries management are ascribed to the problem of imperfect representation, occasionally referred to as ‘regulatory capture.’ Described in terms of the outsized influence the fishing industry has over regulators, this framing of the problem has wide appeal and some empirical support. Adding credence to the diagnoses is the undeniable dominance of fishing industry representatives on the regional fishery management councils, the primary decision making organs within the U.S. fisheries management system.

Climatologists, like other scientists, tend to be a stolid group. We are not given to theatrical rantings about falling skies. . . . Why then are climatologists speaking out about the dangers of global warming? The answer is that virtually all of us are now convinced that global warming poses a clear and present danger to civilization.

-- Lonnie Thompson, Ohio State University.

“For many of today’s technologies…new products require a variety of skills, more than available in any single firm. Hence, there is a need for strategic alliances and innovative licensing arrangements in order to produce a product. To make these efforts work, it is important to facilitate cooperative research efforts between firms and research entities of different nations.”
John Barton, Professor, Stanford Law School.

This note provides an overview of the role of the TRIPS Agreement as part of the global health policy. It examines how various policy considerations, in particular the need to balance the long-term social objective of providing incentives for future inventions and the short-term objective of allowing people to access and use existing inventions, are reflected in the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement relating to public health. It reviews the WTO's work on these matters over the past few years, including two legal instruments adopted by WTO Members.

INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................42
I. NEGLECTED DISEASES AND THEIR TREATMENT......................................................44
II. GAPS AND INEFFICIENCIES IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND DELIVERY PATHWAY .....47
III. THE INSUFFICIENCY OF PUSH AND PULL STRATEGIES TO ADDRESS THESE GAPS .......................53

In this paper, practical issues of biobanking within the context of a single, relatively small project are considered. Definitions of biobanking assume the collection and storage of samples for later analysis under conditions that permit efficient retrieval and optimum sample stability. No requirements on sample size or number of studies are imposed in the definitions of biobanks. Correspondingly, a single laboratory can establish and maintain a biobank.

This Article examines policies that will embody the fairness essential for publicly supported biobanks to succeed. Part I discusses access to data and resulting research findings for approved researchers after a reasonable period of exclusivity. Part II addresses experimental use of patented discoveries for approved researchers. Part III discusses non-monetary benefit sharing for participants.

Biobanks are generally created with the long-term goal of establishing genotype-phenotype correlations. These resources collect and link DNA with health information for use in future genetic research studies. The biobanking process can vary with regard to specific characteristics in study design. Biobanks may extract DNA by using DNA from leftover samples or obtaining new DNA samples specifically for the biobank. Biobanks also vary in whether they use an opt-in or opt-out informed consent process.

After 31 years of eluding the Wichita, Kansas police, Dennis Rader was arrested in 2005 and charged with ten counts of murder. Rader, otherwise known as the serial killer BTK (for bind, torture, kill) became a suspect when he began corresponding with the police through discs that contained metadata identifying a computer he had been using at his church. Even though this indirect evidence pointed to Rader, his daughter’s medical records ultimately sealed the deal.

Global climate change is exerting profound effects on organisms and ecosystems. As resource managers and policymakers must contend with the ongoing and future effects of global climate change, they challenge scientists to predict where, when, and with what magnitude these effects are most likely to occur. By understanding the processes by which human-managed and natural ecosystems respond to a changing climate, and by quantifying levels of confidence in our ability to predict these effects, we may be able to prepare for some of these impacts, a form of adaptation to climate change.