Personal Genetics and Law Enforcement: Improving Public Safety, Ensuring Justice, and Balancing Civil Rights
This was the third in a series of Congressional Briefings that PGED was invited to organize on March 19, 2015 in cooperation with the offices of Congresswoman Louise M. Slaughter and Senator Elizabeth Warren about personal genetics, as the advances in technology and research that inspired President Obama’s announcement of the Precision Medicine Initiative are bringing exciting opportunities and new challenges for health, law, business, and beyond.
The briefing began by highlighting research that illustrates how scientists are utilizing cutting-edge tools that probe the hidden world of microbes to improve health and increase public safety. Then, a panel of experts addressed the uses of DNA in the criminal justice system and emerging policy questions surrounding the acquisition, interpretation, and storage of DNA samples. The panel explored technologies that are creating new possibilities for law enforcement to protect individuals and the implications for privacy and racial justice. These issues are central to an on-going dialogue about a safe and fair integration of genetics into society.
We were very pleased to welcome the Honorable Louise M. Slaughter, House of Representatives to lend her remarks to this discussion.
Coverage of the Briefing: “Personal Genetics and the Law” by Elizabeth Cooney.
Panelists
Claire M. Fraser, PhD, Director, Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine
Duana Fullwiley, PhD, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Stanford University
Henry T. Greely, JD, Director, Center for Law and the Biosciences; Professor of Law and Professor, by courtesy, of Genetics, Stanford University
David Kaye, JD, Associate Dean for Research, Penn State Law, and Graduate Faculty, Forensic Science Program, College of Science, Pennsylvania State University
