Without gene patents people will die.

By Jason Major

TechNyou

Without gene patents people will die.  This is one perspective of a few that are popping up recently. The first below from Anna Lavelle, CEO of Ausbiotech; the second a series of articles in the latest Australian Economic Review that explores the debate whether universities should patent their research and the implications of patents on research (as opposed to development of a commercial product).

Without gene patents people will die

Dr Anna Lavelle is the CEO of AusBiotech, Australia’s biotechnology industry organization. Her article in Online Opinion is in response to the ‘Patent Amendment (Human Genes and Biological Materials) Bill 2010′ that was introduced to the Senate late last year. From her headline Lavelle does not support the bill stating, “If the legislative amendment is progressed in its current form, researchers, industry and the legal fraternity have grave concerns that it would have far-reaching and unintended consequences for patient access to novel therapies, tests, vaccines, and even medical devices.”

Privatising science: should Universities patent research results?

Can the commercialisation of research help or hinder future research activity?

That is the question posed in the March edition of Australian Economic Review (sbscription required) that explore the debate on how to define the boundaries and balance the delicate tension of public and private knowledge, some of which involves patenting of genes.

University of Melbourne Newsroom has posted a summary of the articles but they include the following:

Paul H. Jensen and Elizabeth Webster, Effects of gene patents on scientific enquiry

Julian Clark, Do patents and Intellectual Property Hinder Biomedical Research