The Selfish Patent (original) (raw)

The recent advances in genetic engineering, gene therapy, potential for cloning animals and humans, and the isolation and manipulation of human embryonic stem cells, easily capture the imagination. These rapid developments in biotechnology have affected and significantly challenged many areas of law, in particular patent law. While research with and patentability of genes, transgenic organisms, and stem cells makes for headline news, it is also at the center of a myriad of ethical, religious, metaphysical, and political debates. Because the moral and legal justifications are not identical, it is possible for a legal decision to be immoral although consistent with legal precedent and procedure. Contributing to that debate and enriching the conversation, this article addresses some of the issues surrounding patentability of inventions related to DNA, genes, stem cells, transgenic organisms and, in general to living matter.