Elizabeth Yoder won the Federal Circuit Bar Association’s George Hutchinson Writing Competition.

Yoder’s paper, "Embrace Your Wild Side: A Case for the Patentability of Human-Nonhuman Chimeras," explores laws that inhibit the patenting of genetically engineered animals that feature human genes. The paper makes a case that modern advances in biotechnology alleviate moral concerns that led to legal restrictions on chimera research and development and that potential implications for organ transplants outweigh the danger of unethical research.

The award was created to honor the first Chief Clerk of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which represents more than 2,500 members who practice law in areas that lie within the circuit’s jurisdiction.

Yoder, a lead editor of Drexel Law Review, received $3,000 for winning the competition.