Patents on DNA - Question from another thread

Discussion in 'Biology & Genetics' started by exchemist, Jan 28, 2015.

  1. exchemist Valued Senior Member

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    I saw several people rather reasonably queried how it can be possible to patent a DNA sequence. Someone said it seems like patenting oxygen and then charging people for breathing. I thought this was a good point so I looked it up and found the following on Wiki:

    Europe[edit]
    European Union directive 98/44/EC (the Biotech Directive) reconciled the legislation of biological patents among countries under the jurisdiction of the European Patent Organisation.[1] It allows for the patenting of natural biological products, including gene sequences, as long as they are "isolated from [their] natural environment or produced by means of a technical process."[1]

    United States[edit]
    Main article: Biological patents in the United States
    In the United States, natural biological substances themselves can be patented (apart from any associated process or usage) if they are sufficiently "isolated" from their naturally occurring states. Prominent historical examples of such patents include those on adrenaline, insulin, vitamin B12, and various genes. However, alandmark ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2013 declared naturally occurring DNA sequences ineligible for patents.[8]

    I think what this means is that you cannot stop people making use of normally occurring DNA. It is only in the context of some industrial or technical process that the patent monopoly would apply. (This is in line with what I recall the old UK Patent Act said about a patent having to be related to a "manner of manufacture" if it is to be valid.)

    So it doesn't look as unreasonable as it might have first appeared.
     

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