Free Dolly!
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled that cloned animals cannot be patented because they are the genetic replica of naturally occurring organisms. The methods for cloning the animals can be patented, but not the animals themselves. The patent under consideration was filed by the creators of Dolly the Sheep, Keith Campbell and Ian Wilmut of The Roslin Institute.
A potential caveat of the ruling is that if a clone were shown to be different enough from the original, perhaps it would be eligible for patent protection. But then the scientists would have to admit that clones do not actually produce identical copies, and where’s the fun in that?
The ruling for In re Roslin Institute relied on some of the reasoning from last year’s critical Supreme Court ruling in Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc. in which it was unanimously decided that human genes, even when isolated by human ingenuity, are naturally occurring phenomena and thus not patentable. That ruling was an important victory in reclaiming the common heritage of humanity and limiting corporate control of our bodies and health.
This latest ruling has been hailed as a victory for those who morally oppose animal cloning for its horrible success rates that lead to unnecessary animal suffering. There are plenty of reasons why cloned animals should not be the future of the world’s livestock.
But some people are worried about the impact of this limitation for the burgeoning field of regenerative medicine. Carl Gulbrandsen, managing director of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, said, “The whole area of personalized medicine is going to get impacted by this sort of rationale.” IP Watchdog's President and Founder Glenn Quinn exclaimed more bluntly, "Sadly, until further notice, personalized medicine is dead!”
Their concern is that this ruling will derail a potential future in which cells, tissues, and organs (specifically designed to resemble their natural counterparts) are made-to-order in labs for people with degenerative diseases, since these bio-products are now likely to be ineligible for patent protection.
However, it’s unlikely that scientists will entirely abandon research on these endeavors since they can still patent their methods. And frankly, it’s probably for the best that biotech companies will be less likely to own our very breath.
Previously on Biopolitical Times: