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75 Chi.-Kent L. Rev. 231 (1999-2000)
Owning Genes: Disputes Involving DNA Sequence Patents

handle is hein.journals/chknt75 and id is 247 raw text is: OWNING GENES: DISPUTES INVOLVING DNA SEQUENCE PATENTS JOHN MURRAY* INTRODUCTION The growth of the biotechnology industry and the advent of the Human Genome Project (the HGP) have been accompanied by an increasing number of patent applications claiming deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) compounds on the basis of a novel base sequence (DNA sequence claims).2 Between 1980 and 1997, inventors filed about 5000 applications claiming complete gene sequences in the United States, resulting in more than 1500 patents.3 In addition, 350 applications, covering 500,000 partial gene sequences, were pending. At the end of 1998, Incyte Pharmaceuticals, Inc. of Palo Alto, California, reported that it had filed applications covering 1.2 million partial gene fragments.4 DNA molecules are complex chemical compounds. Although novel chemical compounds have been traditionally considered patentable, DNA sequence patents have raised much controversy.5 Proponents of DNA patenting claim that such protection is essential if innovative research is to be converted into new drugs, vaccines and * J.D. Candidate, Chicago-Kent College of Law, 1999. I wish to thank Professor Lori Andrews and Professor Dorothy Nelkin for their guidance throughout the writing and editing process. 1. The single-stranded DNA molecule consists of a chain of alternating sugar residues and phosphate groups with one of four nitrogenous bases bound to each sugar residue: adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G) or thymine (T). See ROBERT SCHLEIF, GENETICS AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 22 (Johns Hopkins Univ. Press 1993) (1986). Double-stranded DNA is formed by the non-covalent linking of the bases of two complementary DNA strands to form a spiral ladder. See id. The pairing of bases is always such that A pairs only with T, and C only with G. See id. 2. See S.M. Thomas et al., Ownership of the Human Genome, 380 NATURE 387, 387-88 (1996). Between 1981 and 1995, a total of 1175 patents for human DNA sequences alone have been granted worldwide. See id. at 387. 3. See Eliot Marshall, Companies Rush to Patent DNA, 275 SCIENCE 780, 780-81 (1997). 4. See Incyte Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Incyte Issued First EST Gene Patent (visited June 29, 1999) <http://www.incyte.com/news/1998/PR9829-estpatent.html>. 5. See, e.g., Leslie Roberts, NIH Gene Patents, Round Two, 255 SCIENCE 912, 912-13 (1992).

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