Biology and the Bill of Rights: Can Science Reframe the Constitution?

Abstract

The American public firmly believes both in the rule of law and in the progressive and beneficial effects of science. Public opinion polls show that legal and scientific institutions continue to command wide respect, even in a period of diminished trust. According to a recent survey conducted by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), the Supreme Court and the scientific community each received higher confidence ratings than political institutions, the media, education, and even organized religion. Yet the impacts of science and the law can at times be profoundly antithetical, for the former acts as a force for social transformation, while the latter seeks to maintain the stability and continuity of societal institutions and norms of conduct. Vannevar Bush's famous metaphor “the endless frontier“ captured the sense of limitless aspiration associated with science and technology through much of this century.