by Sabrina Ly

On February 25, 2013, an article was published in The Dartmouth describing the implementation of its Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects. The purpose of the committee is to answer ethical questions and review proposals regarding human subjects participating in research at Dartmouth College. The committee is comprised of experts and community members "who analyze the risk posed to participants by Dartmouth-affiliated researchers' studies." The timing of its creation could be coincidental, but may have been in response to legal action taken against Boston College subpoening confidential data provided by research participants in the "Belfast Project" in 2012.

Prior to interviews taking place as part of the Belfast Project, researchers promised interviewees that their identities and information contained in the transcripts would not be released until after their deaths. However, upon discovering the existence of the transcripts, British law enforcement worked with the U.S. Department of Justice to subpoena the transcripts to use in its criminal proceedings. This raised significant ethical issues pitting the needs of law enforcement against the need for participant confidentiality in certain research that benefits the public.

by Jeremy So, UMN Law Student, MJLSTManaging Editor

On October 28, Australian researchers published new information about the genetic basis for endometriosis, a condition where the cells lining the uterus flourish in other areas of the body. The researchers, instead of recruiting their own research subjects, analyzed samples stored in biobanks in Australia, Japan, and Europe. Because of their approach, the researchers were able to identify common markers that appeared across the ethnically-diverse study population. The Australian team's findings highlight the increasing importance of biobanks--repositories for biological research samples--which have become a valuable resource in the fields of genomics and personalized medicine

by Ryan J. Connell, UMN Law Student, Joint Degree Program Fellow, MJLST Staff

As genetic research continues to develop, researchers are more apt to make incidental discoveries in the course of the research on a subjects DNA. Susan Wolf, Founding Chair of the University of Minnesota's s Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences, points out in her article "The Role of Law in the Debate over Return of Research Results and Incidental Findings: The Challenge of Developing Law for Translational Science," that, with this development, there is a serious question that must be asked, but that the law does not really answer: do researchers have to report these incidental findings to the subject?

by Emily Puchalski, UMN Law Student, MJLST Notes & Comments Editor

As scientific research and technological advancement abound in our modern world, often times the law struggles to keep up. The law's struggle to keep up is evident in debates centering on defining personhood. The question of what it means to be a person/human involves the controversial issues of abortion and evolution, which have divided our nation for decades. Although scientists are helping our understanding of what being human means by studying life at its most basic, controversy abounds regarding not only the results of the studies but also the theoretical underpinnings of even allowing the studies. As our nation becomes more polarized between conservative and liberal thinkers the struggle of defining personhood has come to the forefront in politics.

by Ude Lu, UMN Law Student, MJLST Staff.

GMOs, genetically modified organisms, have long been a part of our daily diet. For example, most of the soybeans and corn on the supermarket shelves are GMOs. Currently, the issue of whether these GMOs should be labeled so that customers can make informed purchases is in a heated debate in California. California Proposition 37, which would require labeling of GMOs, will soon be voted in November this year. Proponents from both sides have poured millions of dollars into the campaign.

by Keli Holzapfel, MJLST Student Editor-in-Chief

Given the importance of results discovered by biorepositories and their implications for an individual's health care choices, I believe that the individual has the right to receive his results despite their lack of verification. However, this right to receive results should be premised upon the individual's explicit consent to receive his results, and upon the understanding that by receiving these results, the burden of their verification shifts from the biorepostory to the individual.

Professor Susan Wolf, Founding Chair of the Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences (which oversees and manages MJLST) discusses the latest bioethical concerns related to in vitro fertilization (IVF) on Minnesota Public Radio's The Daily Circuit program (click play button below):

In related content, MJLST Issue 10.1 included an article by Debora Spar, author of The Baby Business: How Money, Science and Politics Drive the Commerce of Conception and attorney Anna M. Harrington entitled "Building a Better Baby Business" that offers a road map to ensuring quality and equity in the reproductive technology industry.

For insights into understanding legal responses to technological change, using in vitro fertilization as an example, see Understanding Legal Responses to Technological Change of In Vitro Fertilization, by Lyria Bennett Moses in MJLST Issue 6.2.