Law evolves organically and politically and usually slowly. This is in contrast to technology which is a fast response to crisis and available tools and data. In this module, we look at how quickly the latter outruns the former, and how “knee jerk” legal reactions to runaway innovations can be as damaging as they are helpful, understanding that law is useless unless enforceable, and that there is no such thing as a global court/police force to ensure that international ethical rules are upheld.

In this module, we will take a look at understanding how law categorises and seeks to protect personal information. We will look at the intersection of regulation and genetics. This session will explore the law of privacy, anonymity, and medical confidentiality, including doctors’ liability.

In this module, will cover what "discrimination" is in law, and how societies seek to control it via common law, statute and international law. We will look at the state’s interest in genetic information and a case study on the liability of local authorities and pre-adoption genetic testing.

In this module, we'll explore how law developed out of property rights; types of property recognised by all legal systems. This session will investigate the notion of proprietary interests in biological entities in the UK and other common law systems. We will then explore the roots of patent law and the challenges presented to intellectual property regulators by genetic technology.