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DNA Helix

Patent for A Pig: The Privatization of Genetic Information

May 28th, 2008 by Kevin

This video has the tone of a polemic but this is an area where a strong call to action is needed. Is there anyone out there even willing to defend big corporations that are patenting naturally occurring genes and then aggressively “protecting” their IP? This is indicative of the broader problem with the US patent system which doesn’t encourage innovation in the way it was meant to.

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1 Comment

  1. Andrew Yates said,
    May 29, 2008 @ 8:34 pm

    If the gene is used in a procedure, that procedure may be patented. I think what is happening is that a template of common procedures regarding genes in laboratory work is patented with the specifics regarding actual gene sequence used in the procedure the “novelty.”

    So, I can’t patent a gene itself, but I can patent every known procedural permutation of “a method for diagnosing, identifying, or manipulating a phenotype using gene X.” The problem is that I think practically, patenting every known procedure regarding a gene is effectively patenting gene the itself (without actually doing so).

    I’m not a legal expert in this by any stretch of the imagination, so additional comments by experts are welcome.

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