Biolaw
{{Short description|Intersection of law and the biosciences}}
{{Distinguish|Geojurisprudence|Legal biography}}
Biolaw is an area of law that addresses the intersection of law and the biosciences. Biolaw addresses topics from CRISPR to genetic engineering to the patenting of new forms of life to de-extinction law.{{cite journal |last1=Torrance |first1=Andrew W. |title=The Evolution and Development of Biolaw |journal=Gruter Institute Squaw Valley Conference 2010: Law, Institutions & Human Behavior |date=2010}} The Association of American Law Schools has had a chartered section on biolaw since 2010.{{cite web |last1=AALS |title=Section on Biolaw |url=https://www.aals.org/sections/list/biolaw/ |access-date=10 May 2023}}
The field of biolaw has been of growing importance in the last several years with the rise of legal issues such as those surrounding biohacking,{{cite news |last1=Regalado |first1=Antonio |title=Don't change your DNA at home, says America's first CRISPR law |url=https://www.technologyreview.com/2019/08/09/65433/dont-change-your-dna-at-home-says-americas-first-crispr-law/ |work=MIT Technology Review|access-date=10 May 2023 |date=2019}} reproduction,{{cite web |last1=Maldonado |first1=Alexis Jimenez |title=An Interview with Elizabeth Chloe Romanis, Fellow-in-Residence at the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics and the Petrie-Flom Center for Bioethics |url=https://ethics.harvard.edu/interview-elizabeth-chloe-romanis-fellow-residence-edmond-lily-safra-center-ethics |access-date=11 May 2023}}{{cite news |last1=Cauterucci |first1=Christina |title=The Womb Is a Miracle, and a Mystery |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/07/books/review/womb-leah-hazard.html |access-date=11 May 2023 |work=New York Times |date=2023}} surrogacy,{{cite news |last1=Hendy |first1=Eloise |title='You always feel like you've done something wrong': Why UK surrogacy laws need a 'real overhaul' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/become-surrogate-uk-laws-meaning-b2328009.html |access-date=11 May 2023 |work=Independent |date=2023}} and de-extinction.{{cite magazine |last1=Reynolds |first1=Matt |title=You're (Maybe) Gonna Need a Patent for That Woolly Mammoth |url=https://www.wired.com/story/de-extinction-patents/ |access-date=10 May 2023 |magazine=Wired|date=2022}}
Academic Venues
The field of biolaw has several academic venues associated with it. Two conferences were held in the Fall of 2007: one was hosted by Jim Chen at Brandeis Law School (“Law and the Biosciences”) and another by Professor [https://law.ku.edu/people/andrew-torrance Andrew W. Torrance] at the University of Kansas School of Law (the “[https://www.patentdocs.org/2010/10/ku-to-hold-biolaw-conference.html Biolaw Conference]”). Torrance then hosted the Biolaw Conference annually until 2011. Professor Hank Greely, who was an invited speaker at the first Biolaw Conference, Torrance, and Professors I. Glenn Cohen and Nita Farahany then cofounded the annual [http://www.lexvivo.com/2017/01/biolawpalooza.html Bio Lawlapalooza], holding it first in the Spring of 2017, and annually after that, though the 2020 and 2021 meetings were canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.