Dr. Len Van Zyl of ToxicoGenomica recently joined a distinguished panel at the 2025 Toxic Torts and Environmental Law Seminar, held from March 26-28 in Atlanta. The panel, titled Offense is the Best Defense: Tackling the Impediments to Obtaining and Using Genetic Testing in Toxic Tort Cases, explored the latest scientific studies on genetic causation and addressed the challenges and obstacles associated with utilizing genetic testing in legal proceedings.

Alongside panelists Scott Emery from Segal McCambridge and Ali Spindler from Irwin Fritchie, Dr. Van Zyl engaged in discussions that provided valuable insights into this legal strategy. A summary of the presentation is provided below. For those interested in reviewing the panel’s presentation, the slides can be downloaded by filling out the form below.

Genetic testing has become the standard of care in diagnosing and treating a vast array of diseases, but attempting to use it use in toxic tort litigation still tends to be treated as avant-garde. Why is that, and what can be done about it? This session will begin with a discussion about recent scientific studies regarding genetic causation. We then will address various hurdles to obtaining genetic material from plaintiffs and using the results of genetic testing in toxic tort cases. Finally, we will explore potential solutions to overcoming these hurdles and consider some potential avenues of using genetic testing as a sword, rather than merely a shield, in genetic-causation cases going forward.