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> October
> October 29, 1999:
Hour One: Patenting DNA
| This week, the Celera Corporation, racing through its analysis of the human genome, filed preliminary patents on sequences of human DNA making up some 6500 whole or partial genes. |  | The filing is just a first step towards patent protection for the sequences -- the head of the company, Craig Venter, says that many of the genes will never receive full patents. The action, however, calls attention to a practice that's becoming increasingly common in the biotech world -- attempts to restrict parts of the human genome as intellectual property.
Several other companies, including Incyte and Human Genome Sciences Inc., have filed full patent applications on thousands of human genes -- and some of those applications have been granted. Myriad Genetics holds patents on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes for breast cancer susceptibility. Other companies seeking to develop genetic tests or pharmaceuticals are eagerly scouring the genome for potential targets.
By filing for provisional patents, Celera gains a year to explore whether or not the sequences may be commercially viable. If the company does not file for full patent protection on each gene within that year, that gene sequence reverts to the public domain, making it freely available to anyone. Last year, Venter promised Congress that he would attempt to gain full patent protection on no more than 300 genes.
The trend towards patenting genes is opposed by officials of the publicly-funded Human Genome Project, the Human Genome Organization, the National Academy of Sciences, and others. But companies -- and the US Patent and Trademark Office -- argue that issuing patents on genes is important to allow companies to profit from funds poured into research and development. With no potential payoff, these patent advocates say, companies would have no incentive to devote funds to R&D. | Patenting human genes... on this hour of Science Friday.
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A section of Myriad Genetics' application for a patent
on the BRCA2 breast cancer susceptibility gene. |
Guests:
Chuck Ludlam
Vice President for Governmental Relations
Biotechnology Industry Organization
Washington, DC
David R. Cox
Professor, Genetics
Professor, Pediatrics
Co-Director, Stanford Human Genome Center
Stanford University School of Medicine
Stanford, California
Lori Andrews
Professor of Law, Chicago Kent College of Law
Director, Institute for Science, Law and Technology
Author, "The Clone Age: Adventures in the New World of Reproductive Technology"
Chicago, Illinois
Books/Articles Discussed:
Related Links:
Patent and Trademark Office Home Page
Human Genome Project
Washingtonpost.com: A Gene Dream
Myriad Genetics Awarded Broad U.S. Patent on BRCA2 Gene
Biotechnology Industry Organization -- Trade Association for Biotechnology
SIGNALS Article: SNPs: Patent la diffÈrence?
An Owners' Guide (Mother Jones article)
Science Friday: March 5, 1999: Hour Two: Patents and Intellectual Property
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- This segment produced by:
Annette Heist
Web producer:
Charles Bergquist
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