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4 S. Cal. Rev. L. & Women's Stud. 145 (1994-1995)
Reproductive Rights and the Human Genome Project

handle is hein.journals/scws4 and id is 157 raw text is: REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS AND THE HUMAN GENOME PROJECT JULIA WALSH* I. INTRODUCTION Since the days of Charles Darwin' and Gregor Mendel,2 human- kind has struggled to understand genetics and the inheritance of cer- tain traits. Each new generation of scientists has continued the quest for information, painstakingly adding tiny pieces of knowledge to fur- ther complete the picture of human genetics. Although progress in this area was initially slow, the pace quickened when the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was determined by James Watson and Frances Crick in 1953.1 With the discovery of bacterial restriction enzymes,4 which cut DNA at specific base pair sequences, and the subsequent development of DNA sequencing techniques, the stage was set for the Human Genome Project.5 This Article analyzes the impact that information derived from the Human Genome Project will, or should, have on the reproductive autonomy of women in the United States. Part II includes a review of * J.D. 1993, University of Southern California Law Center, B.A. 1986, Rice University. 1. Darwin studied evolution and the process of natural selection of certain heritable traits. His most famous work was written after a study of the island wildlife on the Galapagos islands. CHARLEs DARWiN, Tim ORiGi OF SPECIES (Francis Darwin ed., 1909). 2. Mendel was the father of modem genetics. He conducted a series of revolutionary experiments with pea plants, through which he established the inheritance of specific traits such as flower color. JOSEPH S. Lvnqv & KENNEm R. mLuR, BioIO:y: DIscovEmNr Lim 181- 88 (1991). 3. Watson and Crick received the Nobel Prize for their work proposing the double helix structure of DNA. Their work was based on data obtained by Rosalind Franklin, an X-ray crystallographer. 4. Restriction enzymes are proteins produced by bacteria that serve as a defense mecha- nism against invading viruses. The enzymes attack the viral DNA at specific sequences and render the virus harmless. 5. The Human Genome Project refers to those research projects, recently organized under the supervision of the federal government, that are devoted to identifying all the genes of the human body. See generally JERRY E. BISHOP & MICHAEL WALDHOLZ, Gm, orm: THE STORY OF TM MoSr AsToNisHING SCmNrn=c ADVENTURE OF OuR TaME-THE ArrMaET TO MAP ALL TE GENEs iN m HuMAN BODY (1990).

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