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Does CRISPR-Cas open new possibilities for patents or present a moral maze?

Nature Biotechnology volume 32, pages 331–333 (2014)Cite this article

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CRISPR-Cas systems, which enable the production of new artificial genes, synthetic proteins and new transgenic organisms, will challenge patent practices worldwide.

CRISPR-Cas systems have been heralded as a jaw-dropping breakthrough in the treatment of hereditary diseases because they allow targeted mutations to be introduced into DNA. But CRISPR (an acronym for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)-Cas (CRISPR-associated protein) systems also enable the production of artificial genes, synthetic proteins and new transgenic organisms, and patents are likely to be sought for all of these. Here, we review the patentability criteria for gene patents and the approaches that patent offices have taken for the patenting of new microorganisms and transgenic plants and animals. We also raise questions about whether the newfound power to make designer plants and animals should be embraced, particularly in light of the rules many national patent offices have against the patenting of “immoral” inventions.

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  1. Philip Webber is at Dehns Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys, Oxford, UK.,

    Philip Webber

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  1. Philip Webber
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Correspondence to Philip Webber.

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Webber, P. Does CRISPR-Cas open new possibilities for patents or present a moral maze?. Nat Biotechnol 32, 331–333 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.2843

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.2843

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