The goal of the ELSI Focus Area is to build capacity at Cornell for research, teaching, and outreach in the social and ethical aspects of genomics. The biological revolution has only just begun, and as the rate of change accelerates, social and ethical issues will appear at an increasing pace. New issues will arise from many directions, sometimes in ways that cannot be anticipated, and they will often generate intense controversy. These problems will require extensive research-research that is intellectually challenging, theoretically interesting, practically important, and publicly visible. Universities that make an early commitment to building capacity in the humanistic and social dimensions of the life sciences will make important contributions to advancing knowledge in this area and will attract students and resources, whereas those that fail to make commitments to this area will miss these opportunities. Cornell is in a strong position to achieve leadership in this area if it takes decisive action.

The ELSI Focus Area has identified eight interdisciplinary domains that are a special priority for research, capacity building, and faculty recruitment:

1. Agricultural Biotechnology and International Politics
2. Biological Ideas and Cultural Change
3. Commercialization, Intellectual Property, and the University
4. Ethics and the New Biology
5. Genomics and Democracy: Public Communication, Education, Participation
6. History and Philosophy of Biology
7. Human Identity, Diversity, and Difference
8. Regulatory Policy and Genomic Technology.

No hires have been made for this focus area. Owing to structural features of social science and humanities departments, hiring ELSI researchers faces special challenges. These challenges will have to be addressed for the ELSI Focus Area to remain viable.