Gene Patents

I recently read the book “Next” by Michael Crichton. I didn’t think it was one of his best storylines, but it dealt with some very interesting and important issues. Did you know that currently* we allow for genes to be patented? What kind of insanity is that? This means that part of your body is “owned” by someone else and is their “private property”. Apparently, Michael Crichton feels the same way. Here are a couple quotes from one of his speeches (The entire speech can be found here http://www.michael-crichton.com/speech-legislativestaffers.html it is worth reading (it appears to be a condensed version of the appendix at the end of “Next”).

“Genes are facts of nature. Like gravity, sunlight, leaves on trees, and wind, genes exist in the natural world. They can't be owned. You can own a test for a gene, or a drug that affects a gene, but not the gene itself. You can own a treatment for a disease, but not the disease itself. Gene patents break that rule.”

“Where does that leave us? Under present law, if somebody takes my picture, I have rights forever in the use of that picture. Thirty years later, somebody publishes it or puts it in an ad, I still have rights. But if somebody takes my tissue, part of my body, I have no rights. I have more rights over my image than I have over the physical tissues of my body. That’s just plain absurd.”

Research has always been an important topic to me, but recently it has become even more so. Having type 1 diabetes has heighted my awareness of many of these issues. The “diabetes gene” is one of the many genes that is “owned”. You might ask, “What’s the problem with someone owning a gene?” When someone owns a gene, they can charge others money to do research on that gene or to test for that gene. Not only is this not a good practice, it is dangerous. Companies have also asked to block announcements of deaths from experimental gene therapy treatment.

Another area I really struggle with is bans on research. Michael Crichton feels the same about this issue as well. If we block the research here, it will happen somewhere else, so what are we really accomplishing? The best researchers are leaving the country, and other countries are reaping the benefits of scientific breakthroughs. In my opinion, one of the reasons America became the great country it is, is because of scientific research. I disagree with stem cell research bans and other similar bans.

I think Crichton has a strong understand of, and good insight on, a number of areas. Check out Michael Crichton's website at http://www.michael-crichton.com/index.html

Here is another essay he wrote regarding Gene Patents.
http://www.michael-crichton.com/essay-nytimes-patentinglife.html


*In February 2007 Xavier Becerra, a Democrat of California, and David Weldon, a Republican of Florida, sponsored the “Genomic Research and Accessibility Act”, to ban the practice of patenting genes found in nature. It looks like it has not moved forward.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.977: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-977

Chip