How Biological Patents Promote Research And Save Lives
Patenting Pathogens Ryan Snook Patenting viruses doesn't restrict research--it gives an incentive to do more research. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that people can't patent isolated human genes, which it considers a product of nature, but they can patent something exceptionally similar: cDNA, a synthesized copy from which someone has removed the noncoding parts. Given that fine line, it's not entirely clear how the decision will play out in practice or how it will affect work on nonhuman genes. But it's a hot area of debate. Earlier this year, Dutch scientists received a patent from their country on the newly discovered MERS virus that killed at least 30 people. The researchers had isolated the virus in their laboratory from a sample sent by a Saudi doctor. The Saudi Ministry of Health protested that the patent would restrict research and lead to more deaths; the World Health Organization (WHO) said it...