Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Correspondence
  • Published:

Conserving biodiversity using patent law

Nature Biotechnology volume 25, pages 1087–1088 (2007)Cite this article

To the editor:

Humans draw immense benefits from using products and derivatives of microbes, plants and animals. And yet, the very foundation of this continuing exploitation, biodiversity, is at risk. Species and natural ecosystems are predicted to disappear in the near future at a faster rate than any time in the history of the Earth. Conservation commands far inadequate resources to halt (or slow down) this process. Here, we suggest a new approach to boost the global resources available for conservation.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Wilson, E.O. The Diversity of Life (Norton, New York, 1992).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Hunter, M.L. & Gibbs, J. Fundamentals of Conservation Biology (Blackwell, Malden, MA, 2007).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Chivian, E. et al. Science 302, 391 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Olivera, B.M. J. Biol. Chem. 281, 31173–31177 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Pickerell, J. National Geographic News, October 16 (2003). <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/ 2003/10/1016_031016_conesnails.html>

    Google Scholar 

  6. <http://www.leaddiscovery.co.uk/reports/ CNS-Drug-Discoveries.html#ch%206>

  7. Roberts, C.M. et al. Science 295, 1280–1284 (2002).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. <http://www.adb.org/Documents/News/2002/nr2002242.asp>

  9. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan>

  10. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Inventive_step_and_non-obviousness>

  11. The European Parliament & The Council of the European Union. Off. J. Eur. Comm. L213, 13–21 (1998). <http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/ 1998/l_213/l_21319980730en00130021.pdf>

  12. <http://chemistry.about.com/library/ weekly/aa061403a.htm>

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, 02138, Massachusetts, USA

    Tamás Székely

  2. Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK

    Alex Gaillard

Authors
  1. Tamás Székely
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alex Gaillard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Székely, T., Gaillard, A. Conserving biodiversity using patent law. Nat Biotechnol 25, 1087–1088 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt1007-1087

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt1007-1087

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing