What if you wanted to own your genome – that is – your actual unique DNA? Whether it be for vanity reasons or anticipating your “you-code” being of value to the scientific community, the management of its exploitation should be decided by you – and rightfully so.
Actually, you would not be far off. The earliest genetic patents were issued in 1982, following the U.S. Supreme Court case of Diamond v. Chakrabarty, opening the gates for patenting biotechnology discoveries. Since then, the core of the debate over gene patents has been whether or not the discovery of a gene or sequence of DNA rises to the level of invention required by Title 35 of the United States Code.
According to the Code, a patent may only be granted on “any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof.” Laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas cannot be patented. Even if this first hurdle is passed, the invention must be novel; the existence of ‘prior art’ shows that someone else invented it first, of course. Also, the invention cannot be obvious to “a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains.”
Depending on your perspective, some argued that DNA patents fail to meet most or all of these criteria. Firstly, genes are naturally occurring, and while much intellectual effort may have gone into discovering them within the DNA sequence, discovery is not the same as invention.
How is this relevant to Intellectual Property?
When investing in a start-up, many times the hidden gem is the protected Intellectual Property. If the company is introducing a disruptive method of science, its IP portfolio will be analyzed and evaluated. Holding patents for your commodity is a way to mark up the value and assets and bring additional “eyes” to your potential. In short, Intellectual Property and BlockChain go hand in hand.
CRISPR: Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats.
Over the last couple of months, a creative and highly disruptive technology was brought to the masses after being conjured up in the lab for over 10 years. Its name: CRISPR: Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats. In short, CRISPR is allowing for the first time precision gene “splicing” at a very pedestrian price and learning curve (depending on your background of course). Below is a beginner’s guide to CRISPR technology and its ethical implications.
