This course covers legal issues related to genetics and genomics research, practice, and policy. The course objectives include addressing the response of the law and the legal system to advances in genomic and genetic information and technologies and anticipating and positing legal responses for the future.
A trainee-led team affiliated with the Stanford University Genetics Department (primary instructors: Roshni Patel and Rachel Ungar and secondary instructors: Alanna Pyke, Alvina Adimoelja, Anjali Narain, Justin Gomez-Stafford, and Naiomi Hunter) developed this course on genetics, ethics and society.
The shooting in Buffalo that resulted in the deaths of ten Black Americans is one of many in a series of tragedies that have resulted from systemic racism. We condemn white supremacy and the misuse of genetic research as justification for the violence against people of color. These tragic acts of terrorism not only impact the victims’ families, friends and communities but impact us all. We condemn the ongoing propagation of eugenic thinking and the weaponization of genetic research.
This scale contains 24 items and assesses the degree to which people have essentialist views of genetic causes. Responses can either be completed on a scale that ranges from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree) or from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 7 (Strongly Agree).
The Eugenics Acceptance Measure contains 15 items that can be completed on a 5-point scale ranging from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree).
PROJECT NARRATIVE Between 1907 and the mid-1970s, 32 US states passed and implemented eugenic sterilization laws that authorized the sterilization of people considered unfit. Our epidemiological, historical and mixed-methods analysis of over 32,000 eugenic sterilization requests in five US states (California, North Carolina, Iowa, Michigan and Utah) identifies varying demographic patterns and documents changes in how eugenics laws were applied over time.