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39 Emory L. J. 619 (1990)
Genetics and the Law: Introduction

handle is hein.journals/emlj39 and id is 633 raw text is: EMORY LAW JOURNAL Volume 39 SUMMvER 1990 Number 3 THE RANDOLPH W. THROWER SYMPOSIUM- GENETICS AND THE LAW INTRODUCTION Lori B. Andrews* Last year, Congress ushered us into a new era in genetics by initiating a fifteen-year study, the Human Genome Initiative. At the same time, the editors of the Emory Law Journal began their plans for this Symposium to ponder the legal issues inherent in this scientific endeavor. The purpose of the Human Genome Initiative is to further our knowl- edge of genetics by gathering information about the 50,000 to 100,000 genes that make up the human genome. The emphasis will be on map- ping genes (determining their location on the chromosomes) and sequenc- ing genes (determining the identity of the constituent parts). The Human Genome Initiative will not be starting from scratch, of course. About 1,500 genes have already been mapped and 600 have been sequenced.' Nevertheless, the entire project is of such a magnitude that one of the first orders of business will be the development of new technol- The Thrower Symposium is made possible by a gift from the family of Mr. Randolph W. Thrower, a distinguished alumnus of the Emory University School of Law. In previous years the Thrower series has featured a lecture presentation. This is the first year in which the series has featured a symposium, coordinated by the Emory Law Journal, at which participants were invited to present papers and commentary at a conference held at the Emory University School of Law on April 4, 1990. * Research Fellow, American Bar Foundation. McKusick, Mapping and Sequencing the Human Genome, 320 NEW ENG. J. MED. 910, 913 (1989).