Last month, the Law School's Law and Economics Program hosted a conference entitled "Contested Commodities: Reframing the Debate on Financial Incentives in the Supply of Genetic Materials." The conference, which was organized by Visiting Professor of Law Michele Goodwin, looked at the law, economics, and ethics of the burgeoning market for human genetic materials ranging from blood, sperm, and ova to harvested organs and even newborn babies. The keynote address (video of which is embedded below) was by Richard Epstein, and audio files of all of the panels are available from the conference webpage.
Genetic material is a place where over-active pursuit of IP protection makes us all a little poorer. It's a shame that our society goes overboard when it comes to rights.
Posted by: MAb | June 08, 2008 at 11:05 AM