Abstract — The U.S. approach to defense against bioterrorism is being done largely within existing legal frameworks and in response to new laws that address this challenge—rather than technology driving the development of law. While the biotechnology revolution has resulted in a wide range of biodefense applications, these can only be applied within existing constitutional restraints and statutory frameworks. Numerous examples demonstrate that technology cannot be used where it threatens the legal foundations of our society, and technology is now being challenged to come up with more rule-sensitive approaches. In other approaches, such as research priorities, progress toward an effective biodefense would be better served by prioritizing research according to scientific organizing principles. However, the constraints of the rule of law also provide security in times of threat to our domestic safety, and these rules will continue to shape technologies to fit within those constraints. In order to reach the next level in biodefense, we must understand the relationship between biotechnology and law in order to be effective in a biodefense context. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Citation: Law and Science drive technology in the war against bioterrorism, Technology in Society 26 (2004) 287- 301. This was an invited article for the Silver Anniversary Issue, and proposes that in some cases – in biodefense – law has been shaping technologies within the constraints of our legal framework.