Corteva Inc. v. Inari Agriculture Inc. was a closely watched case in the world of biological materials patents. When it ended in a settlement, however, it was a missed opportunity for the courts to come to a ruling on patents for plant varieties. Speaking with Bloomberg, Professor Jacob Sherkow explained that Inari’s decision to settle and place biological materials it obtained into a repository might make similar deals more appealing in future cases. ““You can deposit and get your patents without worrying that everyone will just design around,” he said.

On September 25, Professor Arden Rowell presented on how to regulate emerging technologies, like AI, at the Regulatory Studies Center at George Washington University. She was part of two panels, one on designing adaptive regulation and frameworks and another on regulation of emerging technology; she also submitted a working paper as part of the event.

In the search for new means of sustainability in agriculture, genome-edited microbes represent a promising tool. In a new paper, Professor Jacob Sherkow investigates the regulatory issues and differences between the US and EU approaches, including recent EU legislation. The article suggests that there are lessons to be learned on both sides and provides recommendations for future regulations.

What does the future of nuclear safety look like, and what might still be done to reduce the risk of nuclear disaster, given the demise of NRC independence following the Supreme Court decision in Trump v. Slaughter? An op-ed from Professor Arden Rowell and co-author Jud Mathews published in The Regulatory Review attempts to answer these questions.

Sara Gerke is among five professors at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign that have been named 2026-2027 University Scholars in recognition of their achievements in teaching, scholarship and service. The program honors faculty excellence and provides $15,000 to each scholar for three years to enhance their academic careers. That money may be used for travel, equipment, research assistants, books or other purposes.

Professor Arden Rowell, in conjunction with researchers from the University of Illinois Grainger College of Engineering, recently published an article in Nuclear News proposing an interdisciplinary framework for modernizing one of the foundational principles of radiation protection. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recently released a proposed rule that would remove the long-standing As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) principle from its radiation protection regulations while retaining existing dose limits and opening the proposal for public comment, making their article, “Don’t Scrap ALARA—Modernize It,” especially timely.

In an new essay on Health Affairs, Professor Jacob Sherkow writes that the U.S. Supreme Court made the correct decision in Hikma Pharmaceuticals v. Amarin Pharma, giving generic drug manufacturers important protection against patent suits based on labeling approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This decision will “help preserve patient access to lower-cost medicines,” he writes; however, it also shifts pressure onto FDA, which does not interpret patent claims or decide whether future prescribing will infringe.

In June, Professor Sarah Lawsky joined a panel discussion on Turning Law into Verified Code at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Innovation Conference. The two-day conference brought together individuals from academia, industry, and other areas to share ideas on technology and finance. The conference explored the landscape of the financial world and the role of banks and the private sector in innovation and stability.

Faculty and researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have submitted a public comment to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) addressing the agency’s proposed rule on “Part 57,” a major regulatory initiative that attempts to modernize U.S. nuclear regulation by creating a dedicated licensing framework for new nuclear technologies, including microreactors and certain advanced nuclear reactors.

When a law is inconsistent, further guidance should come from Congress, courts, and administrative agencies to create clarity. In her recent article, Professor Sarah Lawsky examines via a programming language framework an example of a tax statute that mandates inconsistent outcomes for the same set of facts and shows how that inconsistency has been addressed by the Treasury and the IRS. Her article was also the subject of a TaxProfBlog article, which you can read online.