oh my
is this a pandora's box or merely a can of worms?
D
now the hypocondriacs will be able to find out what they will most probably die of ........ whoopie
On a more serious note ... this is the biological equivalent of fission (i.e.) total innocent in theory until peeps start manipulating it for sinister ends (e.g.) being boycotted from certian types of insurence/jobs because they carry 'high-risk genes'.
In a world which has exponential population growth and limited resources this may not sound as fantastical as it seems
Not true Jaded yoot, there has recently been an awful lot of ethical rules decided on at the same time as HGP to ensure that it isn't going to be exploited. The high-risk gene rules are very strict and to be honest are for people who have obvious heredity in serious conditions, in which case they have very rigourous heredity-based life assurance since years before HGP.
This is a wonderful way of developing new drugs and treatments so that the Third World isn't dominated by the global western pharmaceutical monopolies. It also helps to relieve suffering for so many people.
but lata, why then is the human gene sequence patentable under EC law ?
Lata Wrote:
This is a wonderful way of developing new drugs and treatments so that the Third World isn't dominated by the global western pharmaceutical monopolies. It also helps to relieve suffering for so many people.
"Companies have filed enough gene patent applications already to cover the human genome many times over. No-one yet knows how many will emerge from the pipeline and survive legal challenge, but their very presence looms like a dark cloud over the scientific community. Patents are supposed to promote inventions and benefit society. But critics charge that DNA patents will stifle innovation and benefit a few companies at the expense of the rest.
Genomics companies, largely responsible for the filing frenzy, argue that market forces will ultimately bring rationality and order to the patent marketplace. But academic and government scientists say that basic research is already stumbling over patent roadblocks. And pharmaceutical companies fear stacking royalties and submarine patents, which threaten to sabotage their product development efforts. "
source :
http://www.signalsmag.com/signalsmag.nsf...950015E2D0
it certainly wont promote the sharing of research efforts, but exactly the opposite
I thought the boffins team was banging it up on the internet just as quickly as they deciphered it. Can you still patent something that is in the public domain?