Has anyone heard about this?

Apparently, scientific research companies are taking out 20 year patents on human genes. According to the US patent office, a human gene, when isolated, can be patented. Therefore, only that particular company can perform research on it.

This is insane. It is hindering cures for diseases that plauge the world. Instead of a large pool of scientists researching a gene, it's just one company, which slows progress.

cool so companys own us? great, more government conpiracys

Isn't it true for all patents?

Yay, darn money-hoarding, egocentric monsters

It's all about the money, no matter the human cost. It is sad to see such a carelessness for life. It makes me angry which is another reason to add to my list why I hate those big money-making corporations like Wal-Mart and so on.

That is the stupidest idea since breakfast cereal!

But seriously, patents should pertain only to the creation of an object, not the discovery. Very stupid idea.

What next, patent religion?

Hey, someone who shares the same view on Breakfast cereal...weird...Yeah, I can understand if they made a bioengineered gene, which I do not think is possible...BUt if they did then I can see a reason for a patent.



Probably. Next thing you know some joe shmoe down the block will be claiming he started christianity and wanting a patent for it. The world makes me sick.

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Edited for Spelling and Grammar violations.

This is exactly why i hate some of thoes leading Businesses that just want money. Why cant everything just be like google?

Because money is the root of all evil. Money sin't evil, it is just the root of all evils. Greed. Power. Lust. Material items. You know.

Hey hey hey! Settle down now everyone, you all have jumped to conclusions again.

Regardless of what I believe, I'm going to give the other side since the rest of you seem to have not researched it, known about it etc.

The idea behind these patents is to encourage companies to map out and perform experiments on the human genome. The patents act as incentives to get the medical companies to map out the genome in the first place. From there, the companies can do further research to find cures for diseases and such, knowing that they have a reason to find these cures as they have a lock on the market. The patents protect their initial investment spent mapping out the genome, and allow them to make money later.

But - patent rights can be bought by other companies interested, and other companies can map out the genome on their own, they are simply not allowed to use the patented company's work.

For an analogy, it's a bit like open-source software vs. private software. In this case those against patenting would be like linux, while those companies that do patent and don't share their data are more like microsoft. Drug companies don't want to do the research if they are not guaranteed to get some profit out of their investment.

Now that you're all informed, have at it.

I think that patents are essentially a conservative idea, although neccesary for progress in a capitalist economy.

It's just their excuse to make more money

Dude, no. Money is not the root of all evil, it just incites (sp?) evil. Anything that people want will create evil. You can't pin all evil on money.

For instance, if my friend had a piece of cheese and I stole it, how does that relate to money? And don't say because cheese costs money, because then I could say leopard-skinned child restraint seats are the root of all evil.

Desire then is the root of all evil.

Which relates to money because people sometimes pay money to get what they desire. But not in all cases.

But without desires, we'd never be happy either. So then through some leap of faithful dyslogic, happiness is the root of all evil.

No,satan is the root of all evils

Of course. But what is the root of Satan's evil?

Sasparillia... root beer has horrible effects on angels

What? i have no idea what ur talking about, but its slightly funny

That depends what you define as evil.

Without desire... we'd pretty much be emotionless. You cut off my leg? Whatever, it's okay; I don't really care.

Woo, human robots.

It will still be costly to human life. This just proves how wrong it is. They aren't concerned about life, they just want to map out the human genome to get a patent and make money off of it.



Yes. Exactly.



Maybe you were selling that cheese on the black market to a very cheesy cheese club? Money. Maybe you were hungry and stealing that cheese was a free meal. No money spent, still the root. See where I'm going with this?



No, that is not true. He does manipulate things to cause evil, but he is not the root of evil itself.

That's how capitalism and big industry works. While the scientists and researchers themselves might have a real interest in the genome and saving lives and such, the only way they're going to get funding is if they work for a big pharmaceutical company.



Well then it's not money, it's what money represents. Value, worth, work, the satisfying of desire, etc. Some things are of value to only a very limited number of people, though. So they're worth practically nothing in a market, but the person to whom it's worth something would maybe kill to get it or something. So it's more value than money. And what's value based off of? Personal needs and desires.

Exactly, myncknm has got it, it is encouraging them to create cures because thir initial investmen has some guaranteed payoff, so from a business standpoint, they are justified in their research because of the economic gains.

Money isn't "evil", nor is it the root of "evil". For some, it may be involved in whatever "evil" act they make, but for others, it's just a necessity. You need money to survive in the modern world. We're living our lives on something "evil"? Would God allow that?

Money surely is neutral, since it doesn't have a thought. It isn't money's fault that people do "bad" deeds. No, it is the human's desire for material items. By your sense, that is the root of all "evil", humans. For who else in the mortal coil could judge others of what they've done, and buckle down when desire pushes them.

Money isn't evil, that is not what I said. I said it is the root, meaning it causes evil. Or, the desire causes evil. So, I think I am wrong now. But money is not evil, no. Heck, we could not survive without money. But I think what I was trying to say the first time I mentioned evil is that the love of money is the root of many evils. I generalize too much, it is a problem that I have.

Hmm... that's pretty much over then.

Guess patenting makes it to where researchers can get better funding. Still, not cool

That is correct. Imagine the test subjects they will require. It won't be white lab rats, that's for sure. I mean, how can you test human genes on animals? The consequences would be catastrophic.

This is how

Chimpanzees would be a likely test subject, and I'm sure that they can test on deceased humans who have donated their remains to research.

Not much more catastrophic than testing other medicines on lab rats.

Chimpanzees are not human. They may be close, but not close enough to have human genes tested on them. And how would you test genes on a dead person? If there is nothing living, the genes cannot by mass-produced by the body and allowed to take an active role. Also, I would not like this to turn into an evolution debate. The first statement in this reply was just to justify my response.

We test medications on animal subjects that closely resemble humans all the time. There's not that much difference.

Right, just medications. Tell me, is medication the same thing as a human gene?

Eh, they'd have more or less the same effect. The job of a gene is to contain instructions for making proteins, right? Medication can do many things, but either way it's messing with body chemisty.

Did you know that Botox is the most toxic substance known, and just a few grams is enough to kill everyone on the entire planet?

96% could well be close enough to start testing on humans without fear of anything life-threatening.

I do not understand the point you are trying to make with Botox.

Also, an important effect of aging is the deterioration of human genes, there's your use for genetic testing with dead people! Though I was more addressing it as a general thing instead specific genetics.

Point being, this isn't limiting others from doing the the research on their own, just using other companies work.

Me neither. Just a random bit of trivia I happened to remember at the moment.

Oh, lol, it threw me off. Now I don't remember the next point I was going to make.

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