Writing Definitions in Rewriting Nature: Lessons from FDA Law
7 Pages Posted: 27 Jul 2022
Date Written: January 20, 2022
Abstract
Paul Enríquez’ book Rewriting Nature fits neatly within what has become a cottage industry of legal takes on genome editing. It is also something that many books in this area are not: fun; an entertaining tromp through a wide variety of legal doctrines and how they relate to this new, powerful technology. Enríquez advocates for “the adoption of a (more) uniform definition of genome editing primarily aimed at building a science-based, legal and policy framework to address current and future predicaments within the ambit of genome-editing technologies.” This essay pushes back on this principal claim with a few lessons from another scientifically complex and highly technical area of law: FDA Law. It begins from Enríquez’ premise that what the law needs at this juncture—or, perhaps, any juncture—is definitional congruity and uniformity. Sometimes definitional uniformity is helpful. But while wanting simplicity in an age of seemingly maximum complexity is admirable, maybe, for the law, universal definitions are too blunt of a cut.
Keywords: FDA, Enriquez, law, policy, definitions, genome editing
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