Challenges to Dna Patents

The controversy surrounding patenting deoxyribonucleic acid (“DNA”) is hardly new. The first patent on a gene was granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) two decades ago, in 1982. As biological research was advancing rapidly in the 1980s, two trends combined to encourage the patenting and commercialization of DNA: the passage of pro-economic growth legislation and the emergence of the biotechnology industry. Since then, the PTO has granted over 40,000 patents on DNA, a practice that some say “challenge[s] [the] longstanding norms of sharing and openness” in biological research. Add to that concerns that DNA patents may stifle development in the name of commercial gain, offend the inherently personal nature of DNA, and raise bioethical dilem-