ABSTRACT
Resolution of scientific and technological controversies occupies an increasingly important position in the agenda of the federal courts. Science itself has become a focus of litigation as advances in biomedical science lead to controversial research and clinical practices that are challenged in the courts. Theoretical and technical advances, especially in the biological sciences, have made possible clinical applications and research procedures that are controversial on religious and moral grounds. Opponents of particular applications seek judicial support for their moral or religious positions by invoking the traditional power of the courts to prevent or compensate for injurious activity. The courts face a diversity of problems as they are drawn into the resolution of problems related to scientific and technological advances. The strains created by litigants wishing to compel policy formulation through the adjudicatory process are compounded by the uncertainty that pervades scientific and technological controversies.
