杜克大学的研究人员研究了遗传学和法律如何相互作用和相互影响。杜克大学法学院和科学与社会学院的教授都研究了遗传信息的隐私和获得专利基因的能力，这分别受到国会立法和最高法院判决的影响。学院还通过神经伦理学研究，探索生物科学和新兴技术（如神经成像）对法律的影响。其他研究问题还研究了与药物，生物制品和基因组研究，知识产权法，父母与国家之间的关系有关的监管问题，涉及儿童福利，兄弟姐妹器官捐赠，规范药品的非法使用，对人类的保护，以及在法律和政策中定义生物性别的含义。这些努力旨在建立促进科学技术创新的政策机制。
Duke researchers examine how genetics and the law interact and shape each other. Both Duke Law School and Science and Society faculty study the privacy of genetic information and the ability to patent genes, which have been impacted by Congressional legislation and Supreme Court decisions, respectively. Faculty also explore the implications of biosciences and emerging technologies, like neural imaging, on the law through research in neuroethics. Other research questions examine regulatory issues associated with drugs, biologics, and genomic research, intellectual property law, the relationship between parents and the state as it concerns child welfare, sibling organ donation, regulating off-label uses of pharmaceuticals, the protection of human subjects, and the implications of defining biological sex in law and policy. These endeavors are aimed at creating policy mechanisms for promoting scientific and technology innovation.