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Public investment in the Human Genome Project was expected to deliver a global public good that would help generate scientific breakthroughs. But open access to our genetic blueprint is a precondition to achieving this and gene patenting – where companies have monopoly rights over genetic material – threatens to undermine it.
Allowing patents that capture categories of unique genomic DNA damages the principle of open access. A related constraint – and one that can impact research and diagnostics – is the “ownership” of genetic samples from patients.
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The potential and richness of this data could hold the key to developing cures, but opportunities are lost if this data is privatised or made inaccessible in some other way.
View the full story here: Ensure open access to genetic data to protect innovation
