Comments on: Patenting Life: Companies Seek to Own Biology

By: Julian

Julian — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:25:22 +0000

Unfortunately this has already been done.. these idiots (Venter) and many others have patents on genes from humans, mice etc. The worst part is that some of these genes hold the key to cures for diseases such as breast cancer (BRCA1 and BRCA 2 (google search)). The genes that could unlock and cure the world are being kept under secret by dirty, immoral, righteous greedy slime balls. A few bucks in their pockets is apparently worth pain, suffering and death. These ***holes need to go die in a hole. Or at least be struck with every disease they have prevented from being cured.

By: C.A. Simmons

C.A. Simmons — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 02:55:20 +0000

Could you imagine the artificial life-form market competition?

By: Bob

Bob — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 23:56:05 +0000

As far as whether this is right or wrong morally completely depends on your personal beliefs, but as far as the issue of stifling advancement goes I don’t see how patenting an organism would be any different than patenting any other innovation. Companies would find ways around the patent, develop a different organism, or simply wait until the fourteen years were up and the organism was moved to public domain. Not to mention that disallowing patents would remove most of the monetary benefits that lead to these sorts of innovations because honestly, why bother making the basic organism yourself, just wait till someone else spends billions of dollars on it, copy it, and adapt it for your own uses. Patents promote innovation. Saying that it inhibits innovation just shows you don’t understand capitalism and patent law.

By: Jerad Kaliher

Jerad Kaliher — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 04:34:56 +0000

@Krishna, I’m far from a right-wing moralist yet something about this really bothers me to the core as well. Innovation would be stifled in biotech because companies would own entire organisms. That’s also a pretty big issue in my book.

By: Krishna

Krishna — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 01:39:30 +0000

I totally agree. There is a stark difference between owning rights to a living organism and something that isn’t. It will be a bad day when something like this happens …

Krishna