Welcome to BioLaw with Chinese Characteristics!

• This blog is dedicated to publishing news and analysis focused on topics of bioethics, biotechnology, and the biological sciences in China’s legal world.  I want to inform you of the latest happenings and discussions in Chinese government and society by providing access to Chinese-language sources, as well as share my research and thoughts on developing issues in these areas.  My goal is to present, at a daily weekday posting rate [Editor's Note: Yikes, that was a little too ambitious for a full time student, I'll put in a solid hour of research or writing a day, and see where that gets me.] content that interested readers may not otherwise find readily available. 

• Scientific and technological breakthroughs in biology are occurring at an accelerating pace.  Advancements and projects that the scientific community expected to bequeath to the next generation are coming into fruition in the present day, and the radical nature of emerging biotechnologies brings with it greater potential to upset the societal status quo.  Biological discoveries fundamentally reshape our understanding of  human behavior and put the limitations of the human mind and body in stark relief.  New medicines and treatments made possible by biotechnology are forcing us to confront, both individually and as a society, moral and ethical choices that were unimagined decades ago, and that many still mistakenly believe remain confined to the pages of science fiction.  A thorough understanding and critical awareness of bioscience, biotech, and bioethics  will be essential to navigating the upcoming waves of the bio-future.

• One nation that will figure prominently in that bio-future is China.  Despite facing the harrowing consequences of decades of single-minded economic development, China has diligently sown the seeds of scientific revolution.  China has pulled out all the stops when it comes to bio-industries, and is massively investing in scientific education and facilities, actively attracting and retaining foreign talent and technology, and making concerted efforts to create the conditions necessary for thriving domestic innovation, entrepreneurship, and markets.  The factory of the world will soon become the laboratory of the world.  While laws and policies of China’s government and the Chinese Communist Party were pivotal in setting these forces in motion, there is still a dearth of public understanding in the English-speaking world about the mechanisms of governance employed by these entities.  Given the proportionately large role that China will play in the science and business of biology, it is paramount that both partners and competitors have an adequate grasp of why, where, and how the Chinese legal system and related institutions both function and fail.

• I have a handful of behavioral preferences firmly-hardwired into my brain: I love eating Chinese food,  I love reading science fiction, and I love figuring out new sets of rules.  The trajectory of these interests may be what led me to the fascinating story of a rising China, to the existential possibilities of the biological sciences, and to the overwhelmingly complicated maze that is human governance.  (Or mis-governance, or non-governance.)  Combine that with my impressive internet trawling stamina and the great pleasure writing gives me, and it may very well be that BioLaw with Chinese Characteristics was a deterministic inevitability.

In closing, please read, learn, think, and respond!