Law, Politics, And The Life Sciences

On October 24th and 25th the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences (APLS) will hold their annual conference in Bloomington, Indiana. The APLS represents a broad array of interdisciplinary scholars united by an interest in issues at the intersection of biology and the social sciences.

The presentations scheduled for the conference provide a glimpse of current scholarship relevant to biolaw. These include Biophysical and Institutional Factors Affecting Environmental Outcomes, Evolution and War, Biobehavior, Engineering Human Life, Experimental Studies of Common Pool Resources, Action Toward Bioethical Pluralism: Breaking Open the Black Box of Research Ethics, Biology and Political Communication, Biopolicy, Regulation of Biomedical and Behavorial Science, and Evolution and Rationality.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the program is the fact it includes two distinct presentations entitled "Evolution and War". Though the topic sounds thoroughly fascinating, it's hard to escape the sense that its scholarly popularity reflects a more sober time.