[MUSIC] Hello everyone, welcome to Genomics for Law. A course that will explore the ways that the law and legal policy intersect with the science of genomics. We're so pleased that you have chosen to join us. With the completion of the Human Genome Project and its study of the approximately 20,000 genes that make up the human genome. There have been important strides forward in our understanding of the structure and function of the human genome. This increasing knowledge about the workings of the human genome has led to greater understanding of the role of genomics in things like our susceptibility to disease. Development of personalized ways of treating disease. And insight into the ways in which genomics might influence how people think or behave. In the years since the completion of the Human Genome Project, genomicists have generated huge amounts of information. Developed new medical screening tests and new treatments for disease. And made advances in a range of biotechnologies. Advancements have been made in personalized medicine using approaches that target the genetic profiles of individual patients. To determine what would be the most effective treatments for those specific patients. The greater availability of risk information makes it possible for patients to consider and undergo prolific treatment for some diseases. Commercial entities, like 23AndMe, have begun to market direct-to-consumer genetic profiling tests, and increasing numbers of people are having their DNA tested or sequenced. And the possibility of sequencing the whole genome significantly increases the amount of data that is potentially available. All of these developments bring with them great potential for improvements in health and wellbeing. At the same time, all of these developments carry with them interesting and complicated legal and ethical issues. Advances in genomics raise, for example, important questions related to the privacy of large amounts of sensitive information. The possibility of discrimination based on genomic information. How to appropriately evaluate and respond to the medical significance of vast amounts of genomic information. How information about genomics can and ought to influence criminal investigations and decision making. How best to conduct human genomic research and address issues of informed consent, the role of gene patents. the regulation of genetically modified organisms, the role of genomics in assisted reproduction and many more. As scientific knowledge about genomics continues to develop and grow, lawyers and many different practice areas from criminal law and procedure to torts from family law to evidence. From health law to the regulation of technology. We'll all increasingly have to grapple with issues at the intersection of law and genomics. This course is designed to introduce you to the science of genomics and the range of legal issues at this intersection. As background for these legal discussions, the first lesson in this course features scientists from the University of Illinois Carl R Woese Institute for Genomic Biology. Who will explain the basic science of genomics. An understanding of these scientific concepts like what a genome is and what genomics is. Will help you understand that basis for the legal questions that we will discuss. In each of the lessons that follows, legal scholars from the University of Illinois College of Law, each highlight a different area of the law, and explore the interplay of genomics and law in that area. We will also hear from a forensic anthropologist who will add insights from her field to the mix. We start with a range of issues that come up in criminal law and criminal procedure, including how genomics relates to how we think about acts, mental states, and defenses. The role of DNA evidence and the implications of genomics for the Fourth Amendment law of search and seizure. We then turn to a discussion of forensic genomics, the role of DNA databases, the role of DNA in investigations. And the role of genomics and phenotypes in forensic decision making. Next we'll cover a range of issues related to patent protection gene editing and biotechnology. We then consider the implications of genomics for tort law, particularly the potential for tort liability in clinical medicine and genetic counseling. And the role of genomic information in the litigation of toxic torts. Before we turn to an examination of genomic privacy and issues of discrimination Including a look at the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act. And finally, we turn to a series of legal and ethical issues involved in genomics research on humans, including the role of informed consent and privacy protections for research participants. So let's get started with an introduction to the science of genomics.
