Research Library

The mass production and disposal of non-degradable fossil-based plastics is responsible for alarming environmental and social issues when not managed responsibly. Towards manufacturing environmentally-friendly materials, biopolymers, that is, polymers synthesized by living organisms, emerge as promising sustainable alternatives as they combine attractive mechanical properties, compostability, and renewable sourcing.

The author proposes a model that explains how stressors such as constant uncertainty and legal vulnerability can affect the mental health of undocumented immigrants — and how, paradoxically, they can also make migrant communities more resilient. Learn more in Current Opinion in Psychology.

Scientists and members of the public exploring the controversial area of U.S. human embryo and embryoid research will find a complex and sometimes bewildering assortment of federal and state laws. The authors recommend additional guidance, but note slow progress in the development of embryo research policy.

With its increasingly diverse tasks and functions, the IRS is in need of change, writes the author. She explores the agency's performance during the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges it faces in Law360.

The recent shift toward legalization has not been enough to undo the racism endemic to U.S. cannabis policy. The authors lay out policies to improve equity and erase the racist legacy of prohibition.

It now seems technically feasible to culture human embryos beyond the “fourteen‐day limit,” which has the potential to increase scientific understanding of human development and perhaps improve infertility treatments. Robust stakeholder engagement preceded adoption of the fourteen‐day limit and should arguably be part of efforts to reassess it, write the authors.

The authors urge consideration of issues such as consent, confidentiality and return of results to ensure that the benefits of postmortem genetic testing are maximized and the harms are minimized.

To understand the variations and impact of national policies, the authors reviewed and analyzed IVF, hESC and human embryo research laws or national guidelines currently in place in the top R&D-investing nations. Regenerative Medicine, Aug. 17, 2020.

This paper, published in the Virginia Tax Review, explores the mixed effects of technological advancements on tax compliance — and, thus, its counterpart, tax noncompliance.

Covid-19 has created unique challenges for the OECD's digital tax overhaul and has brought new dynamics to negotiations. Read more in Law 360.