Seminar in Introduction to Biotechnological Innovation

This seminar will focus on the ways in which biotechnological developments, including RNA vaccines and precision medicine, are affecting traditional notions of property, intellectual property and information. In addition to patent law, other forms of protection, such as copyright, will be examined in relation to biotechnology and compared with the way in which they operate, for example, with regard to the internet and digital technology. Consider, for example, whether genetically engineered organisms, clones and other biotechnological products should, if at all, be granted intellectual property protection either within the existing frameworks of intellectual property law or under a new regime designed specifically for that purpose.

No prior knowledge of either biotechnology or intellectual property law is necessary for this class which will be conducted in an open discussion seminar format.