Biolaw: Cracking the Code

Biolaw: Cracking the Code

The neologism biolaw describes all areas of law informed by the life sciences. Health law, bioethics, environmental law, natural resources law, agricultural law, food and drug law, biotechnology, law and neuroscience, law and behavioral psychology, and evolutionary analysis of law all share a common scientific core. Lawyers and legal scholars too often address these topics in isolation. This piecemeal approach undermines the scientific cohesion that connects these areas of law with the life sciences. This essay defines biolaw as the field of law and the life sciences in its entirety. Part I of this essay will define biolaw. Part II will then explain why it matters.

Citation:Jim Chen, Biolaw: Cracking the Code, 55:4 Kansas L. Rev. (forthcoming 2008) (symposium issue — Biolaw: Law at the Frontiers of Biology)