A new report from the Congressional Research Service describes the gene editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9 and its dramatic implications for genetic engineering. The report also introduces the ethical, regulatory and policy questions that this technology is raising. See Advanced Gene Editing: CRISPR-Cas9, April 28, 2017.
Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.
Law Enforcement Using and Disclosing Technology Vulnerabilities, April 26, 2017
Renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): What Actions Do Not Require Congressional Approval?, CRS Legal Sidebar, April 27, 2017
Softwood Lumber Dispute Lumbers On: Preliminary Countervailing Duties on Canadian Softwood Lumber Announced, CRS Legal Sidebar, April 28, 2017
Department of Defense Contractor and Troop Levels in Iraq and Afghanistan: 2007-2017, updated April 28, 2017
American War and Military Operations Casualties: Lists and Statistics, updated April 26, 2017
Armed Conflict in Syria: Overview and U.S. Response, updated April 26, 2017
U.S.-Mexico Economic Relations: Trends, Issues, and Implications, updated April 27, 2017
The Greek Debt Crisis: Overview and Implications for the United States, updated April 24, 2017
Iran’s Nuclear Program: Status, updated April 27, 2017
January saw us watching whether the government would fund science. February has been about how that funding will be distributed, regulated, and contested.
This rule gives agencies significantly more authority over certain career policy roles. Whether that authority improves accountability or creates new risks depends almost entirely on how agencies interrupt and apply it.
Our environmental system was built for 1970s-era pollution control, but today it needs stable, integrated, multi-level governance that can make tradeoffs, share and use evidence, and deliver infrastructure while demonstrating that improved trust and participation are essential to future progress.
Durable and legitimate climate action requires a government capable of clearly weighting, explaining, and managing cost tradeoffs to the widest away of audiences, which in turn requires strong technocratic competency.