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16 Rutgers Computer & Tech. L.J. 629 (1990)
Moore v. Regents of University of California: The Right of Property in Human Tissue and Its Effect on Medical Research

handle is hein.journals/rutcomt16 and id is 635 raw text is: MOORE V REGENTS OF UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA: THE RIGHT OF PROPERTY IN HUMAN TISSUE AND ITS EFFECT ON MEDICAL RESEARCH* INTRODUCTION The California Court of Appeals in Moore v. Regents of Uni- versity of California' held that a patient could have a property interest in his bodily tissue.2 John Moore was a leukemia patient at the University of California's Los Angeles Medical Center (UCLA).3 Research on Moore's bodily tissue revealed his cells possessed unique characteristics.4 The doctors removed Moore's spleen as part of the necessary treatment.5 A portion of the re- moved spleen was used in subsequent research.6 Through ge- netic-engineering,7 UCLA researchers developed the Mo cell- line, which they later patented.' The patented cell-line is capa- ble of producing numerous pharmaceutical products of enormous therapeutic and commercial value.9 Periodically, Moore returned to the UCLA Medical Center for further examination at which time doctors removed blood and * The author gratefully acknowledges the editorial and production assistance of the staff of the Rutgers Computer and Technology Law Journal. The author also thanks Professor Vicki Been for her guidance. This Comment, however, represents the personal views of the author. 1. 202 Cal. App. 3d 1230, 249 Cal. Rptr. 494 petition for rev. granted, 252 Cal. Rptr. 816 (1988). 2. Id. at -, 249 Cal. Rptr. at 503. 3. Moore, 202 Cal. App. 3d at -, 249 Cal. Rptr. at 498. The specific type of leukemia Moore suffered from is known as hairy cell leukemia. 4. Id. at -, 249 Cal. Rptr. at 498. 5. Id. at -' 249 Cal. Rptr. at 498. 6. Id. at -, 249 Cal. Rptr. at 498. 7. Id. at __, 249 Cal. Rptr. at 498 n.3 (citing G. EDLIN, GENETIC PRINCI- PLES-HUMAN AND SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES 15, 29-30, 446-48, 452 (1984) (Segments of the DNA from the human cells are joined together with the cells of a microorganism such as E. coli bacteria to create 'recombinant DNA.' Ge- netic engineering, or gene splicing, produces a cell capable of dividing indefinitely.)). 8. Id. at -, 249 Cal. Rptr. at 501 (Mo apparently stood for Moore). 9. Id. at -' 249 Cal. Rptr. at 498-99 (Potential products from the plain- tiff's cell-line are worth approximately three billion dollars.).

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