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Proprietary science, open science and the role of patent disclosure: the case of zinc-finger proteins

Nature Biotechnology volume 27, pages 140–144 (2009)Cite this article

An Erratum to this article was published on 01 May 2009

This article has been updated

A closer look at the large patent estate now covering both the engineering and use of zinc-finger proteins.

Recent advances in the ability to engineer customized zinc-finger proteins (ZFPs), which can bind virtually any DNA sequence of interest, have generated excitement among both academic and industrial researchers. Engineered ZFPs can be used to alter chromatin structure, regulate endogenous gene expression levels, and introduce targeted modifications in genes. In one salient case, a chimeric zinc finger–nuclease (ZFN) successfully stimulated homologous recombination and thus repaired a mutant IL2Rγ (IL2RG) gene associated with X-linked severe combined immune deficiency (SCID)1. ZFP-based therapeutics developed by Sangamo Biosciences for diabetic neuropathy and peripheral arterial disease are undergoing phase 1 and 2 clinical trials2, and a ZFN-mediated approach for disrupting the CCR5 receptor in patient T cells as a strategy to increase resistance to HIV is in preclinical development3. These advances have given researchers hope that ZFP- and ZFN-based approaches may help improve both the efficiency and the precision of gene therapy. Other potential commercial applications for ZFPs include plant genetic engineering, the production of biopharmaceutical molecules such as growth factors and antibodies, and the nascent field of synthetic biology. ZFN technology has also been used successfully to make targeted gene modifications in several model organisms such as Drosophila4,5, C. elegans6, plants7,8 and most recently zebrafish9,10, illustrating the range of uses for ZFNs in basic research as powerful molecular biology tools.

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Figure 1: US ZFP patents granted in 1993–2007.
Figure 2: Ownership (assignees) of US ZFP patents by institution, 1993–2007.

Change history

  • 09 February 2009

    In the version of this article published in print, the second affiliation for Arti Rai was inadvertently inserted into the middle of the affiliation for Sapna Kumar. The two affiliations should have read as follows: “Arti Rai is also at Duke University School of Law, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA; Sapna Kumar is at the Chambers of the Hon. Kenneth Ripple, US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Chicago, Illinois 60604, USA”. The error has been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like thank R. Cook-Deegan and K. Joung for helpful comments and criticisms. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the National Human Genome Research Institute and the Department of Energy (CEER Grant P50 HG003391, Duke University Center of Excellence for ELSI Research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Subhashini Chandrasekharan and Arti Rai are at the Center for Public Genomics, Center for Genome Ethics, Law & Policy, Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA;,

    Subhashini Chandrasekharan & Arti Rai

  2. Arti Rai is also at Duke University School of Law, Durham, North Carolina 27708, USA;,

    Arti Rai

  3. Sapna Kumar is at the Chambers of the Hon. Kenneth Ripple, US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Chicago, Illinois 60604, USA; and,

    Sapna Kumar

  4. Cory M. Valley is at the University of Maryland School of Law, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA.,

    Cory M Valley

Authors
  1. Subhashini Chandrasekharan
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  2. Sapna Kumar
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  4. Arti Rai
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Correspondence to Arti Rai.

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Chandrasekharan, S., Kumar, S., Valley, C. et al. Proprietary science, open science and the role of patent disclosure: the case of zinc-finger proteins. Nat Biotechnol 27, 140–144 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0209-140

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