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Pros And Cons Of Gene Patenting

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Gene patenting is the exclusive rights to a specific sequence of a gene given by the government to a corporation, individual, or organization who claims to have first identified the gene. The ability to patent a gene is called complementary DNA. A question stands out concerning gene patenting is whether genes should be treated as owned matter. The U.S. legal system says only products of human ingenuity can be patented, for example, technology, art, laws, etc., products from nature or naturally produced cannot be patented. There is evidence for this for example in the case Diamond v. Chakrabarty in 1980, the U.S. Supreme court said that life-forms can be patented if they are the products of human ingenuity. They also said that the hybridized …show more content…

A con is that it leads to monopolization of genes companies that hold gene patents have expulsive rights to them and may decide to not allow other companies to look at these genes. Patenting provides investors with a security that they have the chances of getting a return on their money. Supporters of gene patenting say gene function is not obvious and that genes are not mere discoveries because the genes are patented together with inventive descriptions of how they can be used for diagnostics or therapy. Non-supporters say gene sequences can be discovered and mapped but not invented. The definition of the patents says that it is related to invention rather than …show more content…

For example some companies have been able to modify milk so it can taste and last longer, but that makes people cholesterol level high and the companies aren’t able to see that and keep making more and more. If I were to say I am for gene patenting I would say it is a benefit because of the money Investors like to see returns on their money. Science often doesn’t provide this opportunity. With a gene patent available, however, there would be the chance to get a return and that would create more long-term research dollars , I say this because many companies do what they do just for money that is all there is to it nothing more and they don’t realize that what they do is effecting others . One of my other reasons I am against gene patenting is because it is a loss of time, I say this because on some genes you spend time and everything on it like money and you get your reward by making something new but that doesn’t work out all the time sometimes you mess up and have to start all over and spend more money than you already did and that is a big loss of time. Another reason I say gene patenting is wrong is because it is illegal and I harms nature, I am a little bit of naturalist myself because of the fact I really like nature and when I turn on the news I see we have massive pollution, animals going extant etc., but yet I don’t see those companies doing anything

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