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Shares in the human genome—the future of patenting DNA

Nature Biotechnology volume 20, pages 1185–1188 (2002)Cite this article

The issue of ownership has been fundamental to public and private investment in genomics over the past ten years. Recent developments, including the sequencing of the human genome, the establishment of the SNP Consortium, and the arrival of gene-based diagnostic tests in the marketplace, have combined to heighten long-standing tensions about access to genomic information and rights to its use. Companies, joined increasingly by universities and research institutes, have seen patent ownership of human DNA as a potent means of gaining exclusivity in commercial markets for medicines, diagnostics, and research tools. Others have viewed such appropriation as unethical, chiefly because they consider that human DNA is composed of pre-existing information that has been discovered and not invented. The latter view has provided the basis for the ethos of unrestricted access and use of genomic information characteristic of the publicly funded sequencing projects. In this article, we consider whether the case for patenting human DNA sequences genes at an unprecedented pace is justified.

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Figure 1

Notes

  1. *According to GENESEQ data accessed August 2002. Each patent in the database represents a single patent family (if there are several geographical representatives of a single patent only one is in the database).

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Barry Cleasby and Georgina Voss at SPRU for their assistance in data analysis.

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Author notes

  1. Sandy M. Thomas, Michael M. Hopkins and Max Brady: The views expressed are soley those of the authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nuffield Council on Bioethics, London, UK

    Sandy M. Thomas

  2. SPRU, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK

    Sandy M. Thomas

  3. policy analyst at the SPRU, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK

    Michael M. Hopkins

  4. senior editor, Perexel MMS, Hackensack, NJ

    Max Brady

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  1. Sandy M. Thomas
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  2. Michael M. Hopkins
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Thomas, S., Hopkins, M. & Brady, M. Shares in the human genome—the future of patenting DNA. Nat Biotechnol 20, 1185–1188 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt1202-1185

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