Reviewed by: Brianne Yantz
Book by: Sheila Jasanoff, et al.
Abtract:Â Reframing Rights: Bioconstitutionalism in the Genetic Age assesses the evolving relationship between science and the law. Specifically, the authors focus on how advances in biological sciences and biotechnology in the last century have promulgated changes regarding the legal conception of life and individual rights. Told through a series of case studies, Reframing Rights argues these changes in law and science should be considered “bioconstitutional.” Topics such as sterilization, DNA testing, and xenotransplantation are among those examined and argued by the authors as demonstrative of constitutionally significant changes that have developed between individuals, science, and the state in recent decades. With such considerable changes, the authors contend, the law must constantly evolve to maintain the balance between individual rights and state authority.