Do you know who owns your Genes?
28/1/2007

Denise Caruso writing in the New York Times 28.1.07 has higlighted the issue of genetic patenting and the battle lines that are already being drawn over ownership and experimentation....

Someone (Other Than You) May Own Your Genes - New York Times
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Two quotes from the story are highlighted below, which illustrate the challenge to democracy and freedom from genetic patenting.
 
“If you have a patent on a mousetrap, rivals can still make a better mousetrap. This isn’t true in the case of genomics. If someone patents a gene, they have a real monopoly.”
Tim Hubbard, a Human Genome Project researcher, 2001

"Shifting the terms of the debate from patents and innovation to the rights-based framework that Professor Hilgartner has proposed may not be an immediate solution. But it is certainly the most direct route to a more democratic and inclusive conversation about intellectual property concerns as biotech marches on."
Denise Caruso, executive director of the Hybrid Vigor Institute.

Has your research or condition been affected by the increasing propensity for corporations to patent our genes? We would like to hear from you.