Life sciences law

Life sciences law examines the legal frameworks for bioscientific and medical innovations, including the regulation of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotechnology, genetic engineering, and synthetic biology, along with legal and ethical issues arising in practice within these frameworks.

Leadership

Prof. Dr. iur. Claudia Seitz

Professor of Public Law, European Law, Public International Law and Life Sciences Law

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This Research Focus addresses health and medical law as well as biotechnology law in its full scope. It encompasses the legal frameworks for innovations in biotechnology, such as genome editing and CRISPR technology in medicine,agriculture and industrial biotechnology, but also deals with issues relating to new health threats arising from environmental changes, global pandemic preparedness, the regulation of pharmaceuticals and medical technology, and access to new innovative therapies. The ethical and legal challenges arising from the tension between technological advances and the protection of fundamental rights are also central to this Research Focus.

Special attention is given to regulatory requirements, particularly in the area of data protection and the processing of sensitive health data. The Institute also addresses bioethical questions, such as the ethical limits of medical research, fairness in access to new treatments, and the avoidance of discrimination through algorithm-based diagnostics and therapy decisions.

A central area of this Research Focus includes the connections to the Research Focus on “Law and New Technologies” and related legal fields, such as intellectual property law and competition and antitrust law.

The individual research topics include in particular:

Health and medical law
Pharmaceutical and medical devices law
Biotechnology and genetic engineering law
Regulation of genetic technology and synthetic biology
Regulation of new genomic techniques, particularly in plant breeding
Digitalization, big data, and data protection
Artificial intelligence
Regulation of nanotechnology
Environmental law and biodiversity law
Intellectual property law in the life sciences
Competition and antitrust law in the life sciences
Connections to the law of new technologies

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European law

Law of new technologies

Institute for European and International Law (IEIL)